*Letter writing tool coming soon!*
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Click the button to launch your default mail client with a pre-written letter to City Council.
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If the above link doesn’t work, you can copy and paste the following text and email addresses into your mail client to email City Council.
Sample Letter
Subject Line: SAVE ARTS AND CULTURE FUNDING IN PHILADELPHIA
Dear Council Member,
I’m writing to urge that you reject the closing of The Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy and the defunding of The Philadelphia Cultural Fund as part of Mayor Kenney’s 2021 proposed budget.
Philadelphia’s arts and culture are the way back for our city and its economy. One of the reasons that Philadelphia has been growing and thriving over the past 20 years is the growth in the arts. Hundreds of arts organizations all over the city make Philadelphia a great place to live and a cultural center and destination in the region. Today I am disappointed to be in a city that would rather declare the arts expendable than develop a solution for the arts and culture sector, which already receives so little budget ($4M, or half of one-percent of the deficit).
Many of Philadelphia’s smaller arts and culture organizations are vital service organizations, caring for and attending to our most vulnerable populations in ways that data demonstrate can decrease medical and emotional crises that tax our economy.
The arts are also one of the most vulnerable sectors of the economy. The defunding of The Philadelphia Cultural Fund will disproportionately affect small organizations–many of these are run by marginalized artists: people of color, women, and the LGBTQI+ community. These neighborhood-focused, grassroots, growing organizations don’t qualify for private funding aimed at major institutions.
Without the support of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, many will never reopen.
Sincerely,
*Your name*
City Council Contact Info (phlcouncil.com/council-members)
District 1: Mark Squilla
mark.squilla@phila.gov
(215) 686-3458, (215) 686-3459
District 2: Kenyatta Johnson
kenyatta.johnson@phila.gov
(215) 686-3412, (215) 686-3413
District 3: Jamie Gauthier
jamie.gauthier@phila.gov
(215) 686-0459, 215-686-0460
District 4: Curtis Jones, Jr.
curtis.jones@phila.gov
(215) 686-3416, (215) 686-3417
District 5: Darrell Clarke (Council President)
darrell.clarke@phila.gov
(215) 686-3412, (215) 686-3443
District 6: Bobby Henon
bobby@bobbyhenon.com
(215) 686-3444, (215) 686-3445
District 7: Maria D. Quiñones-Sánchez
maria.q.sanchez@phila.gov
(215) 686-3448, (215) 686-3449
District 8: Cindy Bass
cindy.bass@phila.gov
(215) 686-3424, (215) 686-3425
District 9: Cherelle Parker
cherelle.parker@phila.gov
(215) 686-3454, (215) 686-3455
District 10: Brian O’Neill
brian.o’neill@phila.gov
(215) 686-3422, (215) 686-3423
COUNCIL AT LARGE
Kendra Brooks
kendra.brooks@phila.gov
(215) 686-0461 (215) 686-0462
Allan Domb
E-mail: allan.domb@phila.gov
(215) 686-3414, (215) 686-3415
Derek S. Green
derek.green@phila.gov
(215) 686-3450, (215) 686-3451
Katherine Gilmore Richardson
katherine.gilmore.richardson@phila.gov
(215) 686-0454, (215) 686-0455
Helen Gym
helen.gym@phila.gov
(215) 686-3420, (215) 686-3421
David Oh
david.oh@phila.gov
(215) 686-3452 (215) 686-3453
Isaiah Thomas
isaiah.thomas@phila.gov
(215) 686-3446, (215) 686-3447
