The Philadelphia Business Journal
Friday, March 9, 2007
Peter Van Allen

Group wants greater emphasis on arts

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is issuing a challenge to mayoral candidates and arts supporters alike to make the arts a priority in the upcoming election.

Armed with a 100-page study conducted by the nonprofit research group Rand Corp. and paid for by the William Penn Foundation, the Cultural Alliance said the arts community needs to work together and present a clear vision of where the arts sector is headed. That vision includes re-establishing a strong connection to Philadelphia City Hall.

The study was commissioned soon after Mayor John F. Street eliminated the city's Office of Arts and Culture as a cost-cutting measure on July 1, 2004.

"One of the reasons we sat down with the William Penn Foundation in the summer of 2004 was the office had just closed," said Julie Hawkins, director of policy and governmental relations at the Cultural Alliance, a nonprofit with 330 member organizations. "After that, we said, 'What can we do?' We started searching for a consultant. We absolutely wanted [the study] out by the election."

Philadelphia 's Democratic candidates will face off in a primary on May 15. In the meantime, the Cultural Alliance plans to present candidates' forums, ask candidates to fill out a questionnaire about arts issues and engage in voter education.

"We cannot endorse a candidate, but we can raise the issues and talk about what's important to the arts community," Hawkins said.

Hawkins said the arts are not being treated as "a Top 5 issue," but those behind the Rand study want to change that.

"The arts are critical to a healthy, vibrant city, and Philadelphia's next mayor will need to grapple with how best to strengthen this important element of the city's cultural and economic life," said David Haas, board chairman for the Philadelphia-based William Penn Foundation. " Rand has provided the city's leaders with a plan to make sound policy decisions about how the city supports its cultural sector."

Rand studied Philadelphia's arts-and-cultural community in the context of 10 other "peer" cities: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, N.C.

"These really are peer cities," Hawkins said. "Many are older, industrial cities looking to reinvent themselves. These are really the cities we measure ourselves against, Boston and Chicago and the others. We left out New York because it is so much bigger; the comparisons were not valid."

Both the study and Cultural Alliance were clear in stating the need for a "strong central office of cultural affairs," either run by the city itself or by a private entity.

While the city has entities that advocate for the arts, such as the Cultural Alliance, various foundations, the Arts and Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, among others, the study urges it to set up an office to deal with arts-and-cultural issues. The study cited, as an example of commitment to the arts, former Mayor Ed Rendell, who elevated the head of the Office of Arts and Culture to a cabinet-level position.

Elsewhere, Chicago has a public arts-and-culture office, while Charlotte has gone with a private group to oversee cultural affairs. Denver and Pittsburgh divide labor among public and private agencies. Detroit, however, has no arts office and its arts sector has, Rand concluded, suffered as a result.

Either way, the study suggested that the cultural office should be a point of contact for arts organizations, but also be "integrated" with branches of government and quasi-public agencies. For instance, the cultural office should work closely with people like Sharon Pinkenson, director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, and Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., as well as the Cultural Alliance.

"This report underscores that we all need to do our part to ensure the long-term viability of the sector, and establishing a strong central office of cultural affairs is a key step in any successful plan," said Peggy Amsterdam, president of the Cultural Alliance.

Nationwide, cities are facing many of the same issues, including an increasing strain on arts organizations.

"Arts organizations across the country are competing more intensely for funding," said study co-author Kevin McCarthy. "Furthermore, civic leaders are trying to provide stability to their arts programs while also dealing with other major urban problems, political turnover and declining budgets."

The study hammered home the point that the arts sector needs to present "a clear vision of where the arts sector is headed and how it supports broader regional goals." Civic leaders should make cultural institutions a vital component of economic development, the study said.

In September, the Cultural Alliance and Pennsylvania Economy League released a study showing that Philadelphia's 218 arts-and-cultural organizations spend $562 million a year and provide 14,000 jobs.

Still, the Rand study found that while the national nonprofit arts sector flourished in the last decade, the challenges of rising costs, shifting funding patterns, and a public increasingly skeptical of government growth or increased taxes necessitate new strategic approaches.

"It is crucial that cities like Philadelphia realize how much the arts can contribute to other city goals, such as economic competitiveness, tourism and quality of life," said co-author Liz Ondaatje. " Philadelphia's current renaissance provides an opportune moment for developing and implementing new strategic approaches to sustaining the arts."

BREAKOUT
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Culture Gaps

A study commissioned by the William Penn Foundation and Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance addressed strengths and weaknesses in the region's arts and culture sector. The study, conducted by the Rand Corp., made the following recommendations:

"Use the evaluative framework as a strategic planning tool to identify gaps and opportunities in organizational structures and services.

"Develop a clear vision of where the arts sector is headed and how it supports broader regional goals, then identify and recruit an arts champion from outside the arts sector to promote this vision.

"Create a strong central office of cultural affairs that is integrated with other offices of city government.

"Encourage arts organizations to think and act collaboratively. Too often, they view the competition for resources as a zero-sum game in which one organization's gain comes at another's expense.

"Persuade leaders in the government and business sectors that supporting the arts advances the region's broader goals.

"Build future audiences for the arts by supporting policies, such as arts education, that stimulate demand, not just supply."

Source: Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, William Penn Foundation, the Rand Corp.

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