31 Oct Local Artists and Creatives Reflect on the Upcoming Philadelphia Municipal Elections

BY KRISTAL SOTOMAYOR

The Philadelphia municipal election on November 7, 2023 is an important one for the city. Voters will be able to choose the 100th Mayor of Philadelphia and elect many people for City Council (many seats are up for re-election). Other seats up for election are the City Commissioner, City Controller, Sherif, and state and local court positions. This election will essentially redefine much of the Philadelphia political landscape for the next decade.

In the past few years, the city has seen major budget cuts, including the proposed elimination of the city’s entire arts budget. Artists and organizations across Philadelphia have been demanding accountability and sustainable funding for the arts. Arts funding was a hot topic in the mayoral debates prior to the primary on May 16, 2023.

The cinéSPEAK Journal spoke with some local artists and creatives to learn about their hopes for the upcoming Philadelphia elections.

Screenwriter, director, and producer Annette Burgess works to develop stories highlighting the “many dimensions of Black women and the Black experience.” She has lived in Philadelphia for 27 years and contributed to the local filmmaking landscape. She hopes that the elected officials will “expand television/web series as a viable artform” within the city because currently “all arts are not reflected.”

Filmmaker and teaching artist Nikki Harmon is another veteran in the local filmmaking community. She has lived in the Greater Philadelphia Area and Cheltenham for 53 years. As these elections near, she hopes that elected officials “will consider how vital a thriving arts community is to any big city.” She goes on to explain, “We are culture and entertainment and all the things that make city life fun and interesting and exciting. It would be great to have more accessible and affordable workspaces for professionals–studios, theaters, and artist activation spaces. It would also be great to have more publicly funded art programs to engage all people but specifically young people. Music, filmmaking, theater, and dance are all active and engaging art forms that require practice, discipline and teamwork. Young people could use more of it.”

Conor Crockford is a writer and editor who has written for the cinéSPEAK Journal, including a recent article about local government arts funding. Having interviewed local artists and organizations about the campaign to fund the arts, he shares, “I hope there’s a serious boost in funding, and more accountability to that sector. Both mayoral candidates have talked about a potential arts deputy, which is promising, but we’ll see if that actually happens…I would say the general lack of funding is a serious problem and probably the major obstacle, as I’ve reported. However, I’ve also noticed that nonprofits suck up a lot of the money and individual artists rarely get a lot. I also would like more opportunities for neurodivergent artists and writers, but the same goes for all oppressed peoples.”

Harmon further shares, “As an artist, the question has always been about how to sustain oneself, have a decent quality of life, and not be stressed about money all of the time. I have gone the teaching and administrator route which has sustained me but not every artist can nor should have to have several other jobs while they seek to try and create art on the side. I often dream about how much I could create if I didn’t have to work my other jobs. I don’t know if there is a solution to the problem but every artist I know worries about their money and it’s usually their biggest concern and the reason so many stop creating and do something else.”

Artists and creative work are so essential to the culture of Philadelphia, and in order to keep working in Philadelphia, artists need more government financial support. Voting in the election on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 is one way to help decide who holds power in this city, and whether we will go into the next decade with elected officials committed to fund the arts. But as always, the work won’t stop there. Philadelphia artists are going to have to keep finding ways to push for the arts funding that our city needs.

*Featured Image: Image from the 2023 SIFTMedia 215 retreat. Courtesy of Nikki Harmon.

Kristal Sotomayor is a bilingual Latinx freelance journalist, documentary filmmaker, and festival programmer based in Philadelphia. They serve as the Editor-In-Chief of the cinéSPEAK Journal and Programmer for SFFILM and Frameline.