PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A seven-figure jump start is on the way for Philadelphia’s arts community.
The City of Philadelphia Arts and Culture Task Force received $1.5 million that will go toward their Illuminate the Arts grant.
"I am super excited about that, because I feel it’s going to support the individual artist and the small business arts groups in our city," said Ciarra Lambert, co-chair of the Arts and Culture Task Force.
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She said the pandemic has pushed the arts community to the brink, but the $3.25 million from City Council, being distributed to six organizations, will go a long way to directly helping artists who need it the most.
"When you are an artist and you don’t have a traditional brick and mortar business, you might not be able to qualify for [a] PPP loan," Lambert said.
"There are a lot of artists who are not able to get the $1,200. These are people who have been hurting for months, people who are in food lines."
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Lambert estimates the task force's share of the money will be able to help more than 650 artists.
"I feel like this right now will be able to help people at least get a standing, try and pay off some bills, pay off some new arts initiatives to bring people to the city, so hopefully it ends as some kind of economic burst for everybody," she said.
Philadelphia Council members were able to set this money aside for the arts through the city’s new normal budget act.
