City Council grants arts funding

By Jen McShane
Collegian Staff
November 15, 2006

Philadelphia is a city full of art and culture, and proves to be one of the top cities nationwide. The city offers cultural and artistic attractions, from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the exceptional musical shows at the Kimmel Center. It has been called “the city of the arts” and provides cultural experiences that few cities in the country can offer.

However, in the past two years, the arts in Philadelphia have been suffering greatly. In 2004, Mayor John Street and the Philadelphia City Council cut back funding of the arts by $4.4 million. This was done by eliminating the city’s Office of Arts and Culture and cutting back funding to the Philadelphia Cultural Fund by $1.4 million.

At the same time, three Philadelphia museums also lost about $2.57 million: the Atwater Kent Museum, the African American Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The reason given for these enormous cuts was “lowering of taxes and decreasing the city’s deficit.”

Philadelphia was not alone in decreasing its arts funding. New York and Los Angeles also cut art funding by enormous amounts in the same year. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art was hurt when New York reduced its funding.

As could be expected, the outrage over the loss of funding caused quite a stir all over the city and created money issues for the museums hurt by the cuts. Museums were acquiring enormous deficits that increased with each year, and the wages for employees were significantly lower then in other cities.

After seeing the city’s art programs suffering, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance became involved in the fight to reinstate the funding. It became the Alliance’s mission to help get the funding back. They used petitions and spoke with the Philadelphia City Council.

Thankfully, it now appears that relief is in sight for art and cultural institutions citywide. In January 2006, Mayor John Street announced his plans for the 2007 budget, which included reinstating funding to the arts and cultural programs. In his plan, Street proposed to borrow $150 million as a bond to fund improvements at art facilities. In his address to the City Council, Street claimed that “by making these investments, we will create an enduring legacy that will sustain Philadelphia for our children.”

Mayor John Street’s proposal was voted on and passed in early November by the City Council.

While many are happy about the increase, some are not, criticizing the plan because of the debt it will cause in the future. City Councilman Brian O’Neill would rather have the $150 million go towards tax cuts for city residents. Florence Cohen, widow of the well-known City Councilman David Cohen agrees with O’Neill. She is upset that the money comes at the same time that Mayor Street withdraws tax cuts for the poor.

While the arts program in the city appears to be safe for now, city residents are left to wonder whether the deficit will cause higher taxes, or if the poor will suffer from not getting tax cuts.

Those in favor of the funding can be hopeful that with the increase in money, museums and other institutions will be able to bring the arts back to full strength.

mcshanej2@lasalle.edu