In the coming days and weeks, you’ll hear more ideas about making the most of what’s often called Philadelphia’s creative sector. There’s even a free ticket out there – if you can pull yourself away from the NFL this weekend.
First up is a town meeting (followed by wine and cheese) on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. at the Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine Street. The Culture, Creativity and the City Town Hall Meeting will feature several out-of-town experts from other cities that have grown their arts and culture scene – with a particular emphasis on the supporting role of city government.
Look for a panel comprised of Dwight Walth, director of Grants Services & Community Initiatives at the Phoenix Office of Arts & Culture, Erin Trapp, director of Denver’s Office of Arts, Culture & Film, and Randi Vega from the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts. Their conversation will be moderated by Cecelia Fitzgibbon, director of the Arts Administration Program at Drexel University.
Long, impressive list of sponsors: The Samuel S. Fels Fund, William Penn Foundation, Independence Foundation, The Connelly Foundation, LINC Philadelphia, The Leeway Foundation, The Philadelphia Live Arts/Fringe Festival, and The Philadelphia Foundation. They’re getting an assist with the event from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Philagrafika, InLiquid, Studio Z Design, Moore College of Art and Design, Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. (Anyone else left at the office, please shut out the lights when you leave.)
The event’s promoters note that “many public and private sector opinion makers, civic leaders, and elected officials agree that there is an opportunity in this emerging political climate to harness the energy of the Creative Sector to consolidate Philadelphia revitalization and create the conditions to drive the economy.”
The more people who sing from that hymnal, the better. You can hear the chorus swelling, in fact.
On the business side of things around town, Innovation Philadelphia is making its own push on the “creative economy.” It calculates the economic impact at $44 billion in 2003, and growing. The group is running a current economic impact analysis of the for-profit creative industries, with results soon. They’re also developing initiatives like the Creative Economy Investment Fund and the Greater Philadelphia Entrepreneurial Resources Guide “to increase the development of start-up creative industry businesses in the region, and to help existing businesses to grow.”
Meanwhile, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is coming out soon (Sept. 24th)with its latest look at the numbers. This follows the Alliance’s work last year with the RAND study that highlighted, among other things, the need to reestablish and reinvigorate a city Office of Arts & Culture.
One day soon, maybe all these players will come up with “the ask” – that is, what they want government leaders to do by way of funding arts and culture on a meaningful and sustained basis.
As for the Painted Bride event, come on out – or stop by here afterwards for a blog update on the experts’ (and citizens’) suggestions on the many artful ways that Philadelphia can boost its cultural scene.
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