March 3, 2010
Washington, DC
Yesterday I was on the road again, this time to Philadelphia, which I think is one of the great models for what we’ve started to talk about here at the NEA. It’s a city that really gets it about the cultural economy. It’s inspiring to see the commitment of Mayor Nutter — and everyone there — to the arts. Gary Steuer, the city’s chief cultural officer, is a leader in understanding what the inflection point is between the arts and neighborhood revitalization and the economy. And Jane Golden, who runs Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program (which is partially funded by the city) was inspirational.
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Sited in North Philadelphia, “El Yunque” (2002) by Jose Ali Paz and Michelle Ortiz is an homage to the Puerto Rican rainforest. Photo by NEA staff |
I didn’t know there were that many murals in Philadelphia; they’re everywhere that you go! They add so much color, and it’s a great example of how public art and engagement with the arts can foster civic cohesion and social unity. Those murals are largely collaborative efforts, and the community has to decide on what message they want to send based on their shared values, based on their pride in their identity. It’s thrilling to see, it really is.
During the trip, we visited the Please Touch Museum (Philadelphia’s children’s museum), which is probably the most welcoming and user-friendly museum I’ve ever seen. It’s in the old exposition hall from the 1876 World Exposition, and it really is neat. We also had some roundtables with Mark Stern and Susan Seifert and Jeremy Nowak who are really the pioneers in the relation between the arts and economic revitalization so it was great to be with them. We also stopped at the Crane Arts Building, an old manufacturing facility that has been converted into studios. The whole trip was a real education for me.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes the arts really work in city, and I believe that there has to be three components in place. There has to be an arts infrastructure that’s there already, a history of art at a certain scale, a tradition. There has to be a committed private sector that understands the importance of the arts. And there has to be political structure that gets this, that is receptive. So in a way Philadelphia is the model city for art works.
Tags: arts, collaboration, community, murals, neighborhood, participation, Philadelphia, revitalization
Dear Chairman Landesman,
It was great that you visited our city. I was the woman working the boom microphone with the video crew. I’m an independent filmmaker, educated at the London Film School with documentaries, narratives, and experimental films in my catalog. So what I wanted to communicate to you as a Philadelphia artist, raised in Nicetown-Tioga is the other half of the Philadelphia story. I only wish you could have seen West Oak Lane and the transformation that has taken place there due in part to investments made in small businesses, cultural spaces and events. The West Oak Lane Jazz Festival sponsored by OARC has approx. 350,000 attendees each year. The 3-day festival is on Ogontz Avenue, which was once a depressed commercial strip in North West Philadelphia until 10 years ago. The arts have transformed this community. Since Philadelphia is almost 50% African American and a city of influential culture and music (Coltrane, Dizzy, Heath Bros., Lee Morgan, Marian Anderson, Wilhemina Fernandez, Philadelphia International Records, Sun Ra, etc.) I was surprised at the lack of voices from members of my community at Tuesday’s events. Next time you or your staff visit Philly, please visit the other Philadelphia: the successful artistic African American Community. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Nadine Patterson
Rocco, you mentioned that a committed private sector is important. It’s worth pointing out that the philanthropic community (foundations, corporate givers, and individual donors) is a particularly collaborative bunch in Philadelphia. These are the folks who got together a few years back to develop the Cultural Data Project, a powerful online tool that helps nonprofits collect business data, do their taxes, create an annual report, and analyze their markets. It’s quickly becoming a national project with seven states participating including California and New York.
As Bobbie Lippman tells the story, they talked for hours about how to provide a tool that was the best technology could offer, rather than the band-aid fixes to which the arts community had become accustomed. They asked, “What happens when they have the best possible tools?” I’ve worked with several organizations using CDP now. The increase in their business capacity is remarkable.
Kudos to you for getting out and talking with city cultural leaders. Philly certainly is a model for how the arts work in communities, and it’s also a model for how the arts community works together.
Hello Rocco,
Thanks for posting my mural on your blog. Believe or not that mural depicting the tropical scene was painted in the winter!
I do agree that Philadelphia has a vibrant arts community and is one of the reasons I stay here because I can create and grow as an artist and community arts educator. The Mural Arts Program has done a great job in growing to an organization that impacts communities through mural making and hire many local artists in the city. Other than Mural Arts, there are so many more cultural organizations that are making arts accessible to communities all over Philadelphia. Teaching artists like myself, strive to give voice to communities by involving them in our creative process. My experiences in Philadelphia as a working artist for over ten years had allowed me to travel abroad and use my methods in engaging other communities by using the arts as a means of social change. Please let me know when you might visit again and I would love to show you more murals and the wonderful work artists are doing in the city.
Sincerely,
Michelle Ortiz