The Andrew W. Mellon and William Penn Foundations Announce $8 Million in COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Support for Philadelphia Arts Organizations

Creative Communities

The Andrew W. Mellon and William Penn Foundations Announce $8 Million in COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Support for Philadelphia Arts Organizations

Posted: Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Source: William Penn Foundation

(NEW YORK, NY – December 3, 2020) The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and William Penn Foundation today announced $8 million in emergency funding to 37 Philadelphia cultural organizations reeling from COVID-19.

As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the country, arts institutions are particularly vulnerable to extraordinary financial fallout and face potentially permanent closures as a result. The emergency grants from Mellon and William Penn in combination, ranging from $50,000 to $400,000, will support organizations at the heart of the Philadelphia arts ecosystem with 12 months of immediate funding as they adapt to unprecedented obstacles posed by this worldwide health crisis.

Philadelphia, the sixth largest city in the United States, has an internationally admired heritage of arts and culture. Both Mellon and William Penn have long supported arts and culture organizations in the city. The William Penn Foundation is the largest funder of the sector and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the second-largest funder of Philadelphia arts and both organizations support for the arts are often closely aligned.

As a companion to grants recently made by the William Penn Foundation grant, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has committed $4 million in matching funds to those grantees. This joint funding infusion marks the first time the two foundations have collaborated and comes at a time when new COVID-19 restrictions have been placed on Philadelphia museums, requiring them to close until January 1, 2021.  

“Nearly nine months into the pandemic, arts and culture organizations in this great city of Philadelphia, and around the country, are still grappling with extreme financial challenges,” said Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation. “We hope these grants not only help these organizations navigate the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, but also galvanize other funders to support the visionary artists and cultural leaders who are helping to illuminate our path forward from this prolonged global emergency.”

“We are thrilled that Mellon Foundation, a national funder, has recognized the strength of the Philadelphia arts sector as they match our relief support for arts and culture grantees,” said Janet Haas, M.D., Board Chair of the William Penn Foundation. “Since the early months of the pandemic, we have witnessed the ways organizations have continued to serve their communities and adapt programming to the realities brought on by COVID-19. This group of organizations joins many that continue to serve the city and their communities in important ways.”

The grant recipients represent the diversity of arts organizations in the city, including large anchor institutions such as the Barnes Foundation and Philadelphia Orchestra, city serving organizations including FringeArts and PHILADANCO!, and community-serving organizations like Asian Arts Initiative and Taller Puertoriqueño. The full list of recipients of the emergency grants are:

Organization

Total Funds Recommended (WPF and Mellon)

African American Museum in Philadelphia

$200,000

Asian Arts Initiative

$200,000

Barnes Foundation

$400,000

Black Lily Inc./BlackStar Film Festival

$150,000

Center for Art in Wood, Inc.

$150,000

Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Ltd. (CFEVA)

$100,000

Clay Studio

$300,000

CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia

$200,000

FringeArts

$200,000

Interact, Inc.

$200,000

Kimmel Center, Inc.

$400,000

Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble Inc.

$50,000

KYL Dancers, Inc.

$100,000

Lantern Theater Company

$200,000

Leeway Foundation   

$200,000

Mann Center for the Performing Arts

$400,000

Mural Arts Philadelphia

$400,000

Nueva Esperanza/Teatro Esperanza

$200,000

Opera Philadelphia   

$400,000

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

$400,000

Pennsylvania Ballet Association

$400,000

People's Light and Theatre Company

$300,000

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

$200,000

Philadelphia Contemporary

$200,000

Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!)

$200,000

Philadelphia Folklore Project

$100,000

Philadelphia Orchestra Association

$400,000

Philadelphia Photo Arts Center

$200,000

Quintessence Theatre Group

$150,000

Shakespeare in Clark Park

$50,000

Southeast Asian MAA Coalition, Inc.

$150,000

Spiral Q Puppet Theater(Culture Works)

$50,000

Taller Puertorriqueño Inc.

$200,000

Temple University--Tyler School of Art/Temple Contemporary

$100,000

The Print Center

$100,000

Theatre Horizon

$150,000

Village of Arts and Humanities

$200,000

 

###

ABOUT THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through grantmaking, the Foundation seeks to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.

ABOUT WILLIAM PENN FOUNDATION

The William Penn Foundation, founded in 1945 by Otto and Phoebe Haas, is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Greater Philadelphia region through efforts that increase educational opportunities for children from low-income families, ensure a sustainable environment, foster creativity that enhances civic life, and advance philanthropy in the Philadelphia region. In 2020, the Foundation will grant more than $117 million to support vital efforts in the region.