Arts Funding for City Budget May 2024

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Philadelphia City Council’s budget hearings are underway, and it’s time to start taking action. We’re calling on Cultural Alliance members, supporters, and advocates to urge City Council to fully fund Mural Arts Philadelphia with a $5.2 million allocation in the FY26 Budget.

Mural Arts programs create jobs, stabilize lives, and uplift communities across Philadelphia. Yet, the proposed $3.7 million allocation falls short of what’s needed to sustain their vital work. The proposal includes nearly $1 million for a new initiative proposed by the Parker administration, which means less funding for Mural Arts' core programs. Essential initiatives like Restorative Justice, The Guild, Tacony LAB, Public Arts & Civic Engagement, Neighborhood Murals, and Color Me Back deserve stable, sustained funding, not only to maintain their proven success, but to continue transforming neighborhoods and lives across our city.

Tell your City Council members to add $1.5 million to the FY26 Budget so Mural Arts can continue its life-changing programs. Take two minutes to email your council members now using the form below.

Take two minutes to email your city council members asking them to add $1.5 million to the Mural Arts budget! Please customize your letter -- personal letters have a greater impact!

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I urge you and your colleagues to support the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s call for stable funding across the city’s arts portfolio ahead of the City Budget negotiations. I echo their call for support of six key priorities:

We support the Mayor’s proposal for stable funding for the Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy led by the Chief Cultural Officer, Valerie Gay.
We encourage the City to coordinate a comprehensive strategy with robust investments to fully prepare neighborhoods for the long-term economic opportunities resulting from the major events in 2026.
Philadelphia’s signature arts organizations, like the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and Mural Arts, are core to Mayor Parker’s vision for vibrant business corridors and communities. As such, we support the Mayor’s investment of $3.5 million in the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Additionally, we support Mural Arts Philadelphia's request to add $2.4 million to the proposed Mural Arts budget to maintain the stable funding that was allocated the previous year.
The City must maintain consistent support of Illuminate the Arts, the powerful program established by Councilmembers Katherine Gilmore Richardson and Isaiah Thomas that provides grants to uplift Philadelphia’s artists and creative entrepreneurs.
Institutions like the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia Zoo, Please Touch Museum, and The Dell are world-renowned and must be maintained for generations to come. We applaud the Parker Administration’s investment in the Five-Year Capital Budget for city-owned cultural assets and we urge the City to make equitable investments to support the stewardship of city-owned properties, including funding for the maintenance and restoration of Memorial Hall managed by Please Touch Museum.
Core to the Mayor’s vision for a safer, cleaner, and greener Philadelphia, we support the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s request to renew funding for the LandCare program. LandCare is a partnership with the City, small businesses, and community organizations that cleans and greens 13,000 vacant lots across the city.

Your support of these initiatives in the City Budget will ensure that cultural organizations across the city can realize their potential to serve our children, our neighborhoods, and our city as a whole. I urge you to invest in Philadelphia’s future as a culturally vibrant city.

All Council Members

Subject: Please Support a $5.2M budget for Mural Arts Philadelphia

Message:

For over 40 years, Mural Arts Philadelphia has been a vital part of this city’s identity. The power of public art goes far beyond what you see on the walls, programs reach into every corner of Philadelphia — including my own neighborhood — to create opportunities for connection, healing, and hope. Mural Arts runs some of the city’s most effective and compassionate programs that directly address crises facing Philadelphia, including gun violence and homelessness. Through Restorative Justice, Color Me Back, Mural Arts offers life-stabilizing work to justice-impacted Philadelphians, unhoused people, and youth. The impact of City Funding to support Mural Arts speaks for itself: - $700K+ in wages paid to program participants in the last 5 years - 250+ artists employed annually and workforce development programs for artists - 2,655+ Philadelphia students in art education each year - 6% recidivism rate and 85% employment rate among Guild participants - 25,000+ citizens reached with projects and programs annually - Voted Best Street Art in the Country with over 4,000 murals, bringing in thousands of tourists and generating revenue in neighborhoods across the city Despite this, Mural Arts needs more than $3.7 million in FY26 to continue its work. I urge you to increase funding by $1.84 million, bringing it to $5.5 million. While progress has been made under Mayor Parker, Philadelphia continues to face complex challenges. Mural Arts is a proven leader in addressing public safety, poverty, and disconnection with creativity, care, and meeting people where they are. If you have questions or would like to hear more about the local impact of these programs, I’d be happy to connect.

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