Welcome to the new Arts + Business Council monthly update.

Although we’ve been thinking about launching this newsletter for a while, the current conditions make it all the more imperative to connect with you digitally. We hope these monthly messages will give us the opportunity to share a little more about what’s going on in the creative and business communities where we work.

These are unprecedented and difficult times. Like many arts organizations in the region, we were disappointed and affected by Pennsylvania’s decision to freeze its funding of arts organizations and Philadelphia’s decision to eliminate the office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (which includes the Philadelphia Cultural Fund).

At the same time, we have been impressed by the way that arts and culture organizations have shown their resilience. Many have radically changed their programming to accommodate virtual audiences. The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage pulled together a great list of 25 ways to engage the city’s arts and culture scene at home.

We’d like to add BalletX’s digital performances, the Kimmel Center’s Show Must Go On series, Mural Arts’ Instagram Live, Brandywine’s Brandywine At Home,and Art Well’s Arts and Learning Resources.We hope you’ll learn more about, engage with and donate to these organizations.

At ABC, we’re also digitally transforming our programs. Our Business on Board and Creative Exchange programs went entirely virtual. Next month, we will turn our 35th annual awards program into a virtual awards ceremony, full of videos and thank you speeches from our awardees. Have you had a chance to see who won awards this year? Check it out and make sure to register for the show. It’s a free way to reconnect with and honor leaders in the arts community.

Finally, at ABC, our mission is to foster exchange between the creative and business communities. For more than 15 years we have paired technology professionals who volunteer with creative nonprofits to work on a strategic tech issue. We helped match Captech, the national consulting company, with a Philadelphia office, with the music nonprofit, The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts (whose artistic director, Lovett Hines, is coincidentally one of our award winners this year). Together, they worked on the creation of an easy-to-use app for Clef Club’s music education program. Learn more about this example of cross-sector collaboration here.

Have a story of connection between the creative and business communities that you want to share? Let’s talk.

Thanks for reading,

Diana
Executive Director,
Arts + Business Council for Greater Philadelphia

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