As local arts groups continue to face decreases in city funding, a multiyear initiative is lending a hand to Philly-area craft makers, and the organizations that support them.
Through a collaboration with Etsy and the Center for Craft, five Philly-based arts organizations have received a combined $500,000 in grant funding. The recipients include the Brandywine Workshop and Archives, The Clay Studio, InLiquid, Fleisher Art Memorial, and the Museum for Art in Wood.
Each organization received a $100,000 place-based, unrestricted grant, allowing them to direct funding where it’s most needed.
“It feels really exciting to be recognized in this way,” said Rebecca Morrison, executive director of Brandywine Workshop and Archives. “Being recognized on a national stage in a city filled with so many incredible organizations is really special to us.”
The funding is powered by Etsyand the Center for Craft’s Craft Catalyst Initiative, a new, multiyear collaboration that aims to support “greater organizational impact and resilience” within arts communities across the country.
According to the Center for Craft website, the two organizations will award a total of $10 million over three years to select “craft hubs.”
The Philly craft hub is among the first round of recipients. Other selected regions include Asheville, N.C., Berea, Ky., Santa Fe, N.M., and the San Francisco Bay Area.
In an “increasingly AI-driven and digitized world,” Center for Craft executive director Stephanie Moore said these investments are “essential” for local arts groups and craft makers to thrive.
“This initiative will fortify craft’s place by investing in the spaces, relationships, and infrastructure that encourage artists, sustain creative careers, and strengthen communities across the country,” Moore said in a press statement.
According to the Center for Craft website, these regions were selected based on research commissioned by Etsy.
Last month, arts organizations were notified that they were selected, and the grants were quickly distributed.
Rachel Zimmerman, founder and executive director of InLiquid, a visual arts organization in Kensington, has already used a portion of the funds to give her staff raises.
“They are partly responsibly for this,” she said. “We couldn’t do the work without the people.”
Zimmerman said the funding arrived a year after InLiquid’s worst financial period since its founding. .
The economic challenges were worsened by lower state and city funding, which led to “fierce” competition among other struggling arts groups to acquire fewer resources.
But Zimmerman said the grant not only eased InLiquid’s financial struggles, it was “affirming.”
Her hope is that it will incentivize other large corporations to invest in small, grassroots institutions who are working to uplift and sustain the careers of local creatives. “It’s not charity. We’re doing the work,” she said.
While her organization is still mapping out plans to administer the funds, Morrison said she’s excited to forge stronger connections and collaborations with other grant recipients.
“It’s great to know we have these organizations in our cohort, so we can learn from each other,” Morrison said. “With grant funding not being as easily accessible as it was in the past, this is a great way for us to work together.”
In a press statement, Monica Zimmerman, executive director of Fleisher Art Memorial, said this recognition proves what she and other arts leaders already know: “Philly runs on creatives.”
For more information, visit craftcatalyst.centerforcraft.org.