Knight Foundation Brings Community Supported Art to Philadelphia

Mayor Michael A. Nutter joined members of Philadelphia's visual arts community this morning to celebrate the creation of two new Community Supported Art (CSA) programs that will help strengthen the relationship between local artists and their community.  The programs, based on a successful model developed by Minnesota's Springboard for the Arts, are being replicated here in Philadelphia thanks to support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
 
"We are grateful for Knight Foundation's sustained commitment to fostering the arts at a grassroots level in Philadelphia," said Mayor Nutter.  "Community Supported Art is an innovative and sustainable way to support the wealth of artistic talent we have here in our City, as well as to build our community of art patrons and collectors."
 
Dennis Scholl, Vice President of Arts at Knight Foundation, said, "Community Supported Art is a fun and engaging way to continue our efforts to make art general in Philadelphia.  It's also an innovative way to strengthen and support the efforts of local artists by fostering relationships between them and the community in which they live."
 
The Philadelphia Folklore Project has been selected to administrate one of the new CSA programs, and artist collectives Grizzly Grizzly and Tiger Strikes Asteroid willmanage a second program jointly.  The City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) assisTed Knight Foundation in identifying local arts organizations that were well suited to replicate the CSA model by way of an RFP issued last November
 
"It is important that both adventurous work by emerging artists and very traditional forms of art have a place in these new programs," said Chief Cultural Officer Gary Steuer, "so we are pleased that, through the organizations running the Philadelphia CSA programs, we are able to speak to a very diverse range of artists and audiences."