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The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is restoring state arts funding to smaller organizations.
Last year, the council renamed itself Pennsylvania Creative Industries and reorganized its funding criteria, making organizations with budgets under $100,000 ineligible for grants. Organizations that operated under fiscal sponsorships were also not eligible.
The move alarmed arts organizations across the commonwealth.
“We pushed back,” said Patricia Wilson Aden, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. “We said that if the PA Council on the Arts was to fulfill its originating mandate, they needed to reconsider.”
In a vote Thursday morning, the council approved a new program called Spotlight, which makes state funding available to organizations with budgets between $10,000 and $100,000, and allows for fiscal sponsorships.
“We saw measurable change from our advocacy from our outreach,” said Eric César Morales of Restoring Opportunities for Artists and Residents, which was formed in response to PCI funding cuts.
About 70 people logged into the online council meeting Thursday, with many representing regional arts organizations across Pennsylvania. While they voiced satisfaction with PCI’s decision to restore funding to smaller organizations, they criticized the decision to eliminate the regional partnerships program, which used county-level arts associations to help grassroots artists and organizations apply for state grants.
Amy Elliott Gabriele, chief financial officer, said the council is obligated to use state funding as efficiently as possible. Streamlining and centralizing the application process will lower administration costs.
“Over the past two years, Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts and the Arts in Education partners returned $450,000 in grant funds,” she said. “In many cases, funds were returned because there were not enough applications to distribute the grants. In one area, 70% of residency funds were returned.”
In response, Susannah Faulkner, executive director of Erie Arts and Culture, said that many smaller organizations need direct, personal support to navigate the complex application process.
“We really pride ourselves on being great stewards of those taxpayer dollars,” she said. “Many of these organizations that will qualify do not have any paid staff. They’re all-volunteer run and it is essential for them to have the trusted messengers of folks like us.”
