GroundSwell

Earlier this year, The Philadelphia Cultural Fund was at risk of having its funding cut by 40 percent in FY2016. Less than a month ago, City Council approved an amended budget that maintains the Cultural Fund budget at $3.14 million. The decision to maintain the budget was due, in large part, to the efforts of GroundSwell, the advocacy and community engagement arm of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

Working in collaboration with the Cultural Fund, GroundSwell organized a number of campaigns to protect the Cultural Fund’s budget allocations, which included the second Annual Philadelphia Arts Advocacy Day at City Hall, an online push for supporters to send emails to City Council members, and a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #SavePHLarts.

Avoiding a cut in funding to almost 300 cultural organization, GroundSwell’s campaign that blended social media and in-real-life protests to help save Philadelphia’s art scene, something we can all be thankful for.