Grant Applications Open for City’s Performances in Public Spaces Initiative

Updated: The grant deadline had been extended to December 17 at 5 p.m.

Last week, the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) and Mayor Michael Nutter announced that the City is accepting applications for Performances in Public Spaces. The initiative provides grant money for artists and art organizations to cover all costs associated with presenting performances in select parks and plazas across the city in 2015.

Funding for the projects (a total of $60,000) will be provided by the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia and a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

According to a press release, OACCE has held performances at City Hall in the past, but the goal of this initiative is is bring the performances to the communities and make them more accessible. The list of approved spaces includes the following:

• Campbell Square
• Clark Park
• Fairhill Square
• FDR Park
• Frankford Pause
• Gorgas Park
• Hawthorne Park
• Hunting Park
• Malcolm X Park
• Marconi Plaza
• Paine’s Skatepark
• Race St. Pier
• Saunders Park
• Spruce Street Harbor Park
• The Porch at 30th Street Station
• Vernon Park

The grants can be used to cover artist fees, marketing, materials, production and other administrative costs. OACCE anticipates that 10-15 grants of $500-$3000 per performance will be awarded. The number of projects and their award levels will be based on the number of applications and range of amounts requested.

Applications are due on December 17, 2014, and must be submitted online or delivered to the OACCE office, located in City Hall, Room 116, by 5:00 p.m..

More information about the initiative, including full instructions and the application are available here.