As we enter an important budget cycle, it is vital for the cultural community to actively engage in shaping the future of arts and culture funding. We are pleased to share an update on the current status of budget negotiations for the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. City of Philadelphia Budget This week, the City of Philadelphia held public testimony sessions to hear from citizens about their FY26 Budget priorities. We applaud Councilmember Rue Landau (At-Large) for her call to increase funding to the cultural community during a press conference on Wednesday, May 14. Budget negotiations will heat up over the next two weeks. Make your voice heard before the June 30 budget deadline. In your advocacy efforts, we urge you to utilize the talking points below to call on the Mayor & City Council to robustly fund these pillars of Philadelphia’s arts and culture portfolio: -
Fund Creative Philadelphia (formerly the Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy) with an additional $1 million towards the operational needs of our city’s arts and culture office. -
Support stable funding for The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, which is proposed to receive $3.5 million in the FY26 Budget. The Cultural Fund is an anchor in our community, awarding over 250 grants to arts and culture organizations across all 10 Councilmanic Districts last year. -
Invest an additional $1.5 million in Mural Arts Philadelphia to sustain core programs that employ artists and beautify our city. -
Provide equitable funding of city-owned assets and the institutions that maintain and operate city-owned architectural treasures. You can support these and other priorities by emailing City Council at Budget.Hearings@Phila.gov or looking up your District Councilmember and emailing them and their staff directly. You can also email all At-Large members of City Council who represent the entire city. Please note that the City Budget must be passed by June 30. As the budget is expected to be finalized before this date, it is essential that you make your voice heard over the next two weeks. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Budget Advocates are making their voices heard at the State Capitol in Harrisburg as budget season intensifies. While major discussions around public transit funding and the unprecedented volatility of federal funding are dominating the conversation, the Cultural Alliance remains committed to advocating for stable, predictable funding for the cultural community. -
On Wednesday, May 7, Cultural Alliance President & CEO Patricia Wilson Aden met with bipartisan legislative leaders to highlight the local impact of federal funding cuts to arts and culture organizations in Southeastern Pennsylvania. In these meetings, Patty implored state officials to prioritize maintaining or increasing arts funding in this year’s budget. The Cultural Alliance continues to advocate for legislators through in-person and virtual meetings. -
On Tuesday, May 13, Creative Pennsylvania (formerly Citizens for the Arts) hosted Arts Advocacy Day in Harrisburg. The Cultural Alliance supports the following funding requests from our partner organizations. -
Creative Pennsylvania & PA Museums are advocating for a $2 million increase to the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission Grants to Museums line item, bringing the total appropriation to $4 million. PHMC grants support museums and historic sites in the Philadelphia region. -
Creative Pennsylvania is also advocating for a $1 million increase to the PA Council on the Arts Grants to the Arts line item, for a total appropriation of $10 million. These dollars will be allocated to arts organizations and arts education throughout the state, including Philadelphia and the collar counties. Though the state budget is traditionally passed and written into law by June 30, negotiations often extend into the summer and can last until July or August. We will continue to monitor the process and keep you informed with updates and calls to action as we move through the state budget cycle. Advocacy efforts for the state budget will ramp up in early June. Stay tuned for actions that you can take to advocate for sustained investments in the Commonwealth’s budget. As the cultural community’s federal funding is under attack, state and local budget advocacy is more important than ever. The Cultural Alliance is proud to be your voice in City Hall, the Capitol, and public squares to ensure elected officials protect and defend our funding in this budget cycle and in the years to come. | 
