Challenges and Opportunities
Research revealed that low public investment is a major concern, particularly for cultural organizations in the clusters along Lancaster and Haverford Avenues. The neighborhoods’ cultural clusters are anchors for civic, social and economic activity, and they need additional capitalization to realize their potential for the community. Additional investment in these organizations could increase ongoing opportunities for meaningful cultural engagement.
One way to enhance those clusters is through access to economic development support provided by city and state programs, according to the report. Mantua’s recent designation as a Promise Zone also provides improved access to federal support for these corridors. The cultural clusters should be a key part of funding and other proposals for support, the researchers claim.
Another challenge that the study uncovered was that the neighborhoods lack a network that supports the area’s cultural ecosystem. Cultural organizations need support to build capacity, engage in collaborations and develop long-terms plans.
“We found that there is a clear need for collaboration among the area’s cultural leaders, but many are struggling with their own day-to-day challenges. This prevents long-term planning and hinders growth,” said Neville Vakharia, assistant professor and research director of arts administration and a faculty researcher on the project. “Helping ensure increased philanthropic investment from public and private sources could build capacity and support much-needed collaborative efforts.”
Also challenging is the lack of connection between the neighborhoods’ cultural assets and the area’s civic agenda and collaborative opportunities. The researchers found that artists seek stronger connections to the community, including the neighborhood schools, but often have no clear way to find them.
More opportunities are needed for artists to convene with one another and with the neighborhoods’ schools, churches and civic organizations. An artist support network could be housed in a local cultural or civic organization or a new organization could be established, suggest the researchers.
“The arts have a variety of educational benefits, and artists know that better than anyone. But running programs in the Philadelphia schools isn’t easy,” said Andrew Zitcer, assistant teaching professor of arts administration and a faculty researcher on the project. “If we can strengthen relationships between local arts groups and the Philadelphia School District, students will reap the rewards.”
The study also found that, while the area’s local artists and cultural organizations want to work with local schools, they have difficulty navigating the complexity of the Philadelphia School District’s bureaucracy, and grow frustrated by an inability to move projects forward. Finding ways to ease this struggle could enable local schools to utilize local cultural resources in and beyond the classroom to support improved educational outcomes for all students and to revitalize the area’s public schools.
Additionally, the report found that communications is a big challenge when it comes to the arts in these communities. Residents reported wanting to hear more about what is happening in the neighborhood and wanting arts and cultural providers to communicate better.
Though the area lacks the type of independent community newspapers found in some other Philadelphia neighborhoods, opportunities do exist through communications vehicles such as the People’s Emergency Center (PEC)’s newsletter and events calendar, the Philadelphia School District’s communications systems and Drexel University’s communication systems. The report suggests that civic and cultural leaders could collaborate to explore the development of a localized communications system that would enable artists and cultural organizations to share information.
Other challenges that were addressed in the report include complicated relationships with larger institutions and concern about what their expansion means for the future of the neighborhoods, and real or perceived barriers to access to larger institutions that border the area.
Additional Information
In addition to the three faculty members on the project, the work was supported by four graduate students and two undergraduates: Morgan Gengo and Rachel Olenick, who recently graduated from the arts administration program; Laura Oxenfeld, a graduate student in the science, technology and society program in the College of Arts and Sciences; Lyric Prince, a graduate student in the science, technology and society program in the College of Arts and Sciences; Mirna Norales, an undergraduate political science major in the College of Arts and Sciences; and Olivia Deng, who recently transferred from Drexel.
The research effort was funded by a grant from Drexel’s Office of Research and its Office of University and Community Partnerships.
