Philly Cultural Equity initiative

Join ¡Presente! Media as we develop the Philly Cultural Equity initiative. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that arts are essential for society to thrive. The labor of love - music, films, paintings - made by cultural workers have been providing joy and hope for millions around the globe. 

However, this time has also exacerbated the economic obstacles that cultural workers experience. People of color, immigrants, and queer artists in particular, have been historically underfunded both locally and nationally.

For too long, cultural workers of color have not been equitably included in the cultural funding landscape in Philadelphia. Barriers in long-term sustainable funding options, a lack of living wages, and opportunities granted behind closed doors deepen the cultural inequity that working artists face.

The City’s budget for arts funding has been historically low, and this year, Mayor Kenney closed the Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy (OACCE) as the 2020 budget was updated due to COVID-19. Although the Philadelphia Cultural Fund was also proposed to be cut, 68% of its budget was cut. Now is the time for Philadelphia artists of color to reimagine what a vibrant arts scene looks like. 

Cultural Equity Background

¡Presente! Media believes that cultural equity means that all artists should be able to access the same social and economic opportunities in order to attain sustainable work opportunities. In the U.S., communities traditionally marginalized continue to experience cultural inequity. Some of these communities which often overlap include Latinx/Afro-Latinx, Black, Indigenous, queer, and immigrant/undocumented artists. True cultural equity would look like artists from a range of identities having access to long-term funding opportunities, receiving a fair wage for projects/contracted work, and more.

The Philly Cultural Equity working group will focus on addressing important topics, such as funding and equal pay rates that help cultural workers to be better prepared to develop their work and establish their careers.

We are interested in finding out what hopes artists of color in Philadelphia envision for the city’s cultural funding landscape, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please check back for a survey.

Several resources exist that can serve as a guide as we develop this work more locally in Philadelphia:

Cultural New Deal for Cultural and Racial Justice

Creative Justice Initiative

Antiracist & Structural Equality Resource Guide (Documentary Producers Alliance)

Creative Futures - 40 Provocations to Reimagine the Arts, Documentary, and Journalism (Ford Foundation)

If you would like to learn more and get involved as the initiative develops, or have a personal experience you’d like to share, please email us at info@presentemedia.org.

Here are a few ways to get involved in the Philly Cultural Equity initiative:

• Do you have an idea for a story you’d like ¡Presente! Media to cover on this topic? Please send us your tips, as we’re looking to highlight the work of artists and cultural workers of color, and cultural inequities that exist in the region.

• Are there specific injustices you see in the arts sector in Philly, that you think we could organize around? (i.e. grant opportunities, artist rates, etc.). Let us know, and we can start to think through ideas together.

• Are you part of a collective of artists or small grassroots organization that could potentially serve as an ally to the initiative? Let us know if you’d be interested in supporting the initiative in this way.

Philly Cultural Equity Working Group Stories