Arts Funding by Philadelphia and Some Peer Cities (2009)

How does Philadelphia compare to other cities in funding the arts?

The Greater Phildelphia Cultural Alliance periodically analyzes arts funding levels by Philadelphia and some of its peer cities. Comparing budgets from different cities is notably difficult - the manners of funding the arts and the structure of the governments themselves take many different forms. In some cities, the Department of Arts and Culture is a regular city department, in others it may be a nonprofit organizations funding in whole or in part by local governments, in still others it may cross municipal boundaries.

In our analyses, we do our best to compare cities in an appropriate manner - ensuring that we are comparing the same types of funding in each city despite the differences in structure. Tracking government expenditures for capital financing, which are often large funding amounts that cover a period of years, is especially tricky. The attached document reflects our best efforts to make these comparisons

Many thanks to staff members from the city departments and nonprofit funding agencies who responding to requests from the Cultural Alliance and, in many cases, guided us to the right data sources.

For any questions, please contact Nick Crosson, Research Analyst at nickc@philaculture.org.

To view the full table and graphics, click the link below.