Mural Arts Program funding cut by $500,000

Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program, which uses art to improve local communities and collaborates with Penn's Fine Arts Department, will lose $500,000 in funding with the city's recent budget cuts.

The cuts will have an immediate impact on MAP, which plans to turn to philanthropists and other organizations in order to continue projects affected by the cuts.

"Our programs now and in the long term will feel the effects of this cut," said Jane Golden, MAP's executive director. She said the program works with over three thousand children each year.

MAP grew out of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, which received acclaim for its innovative community practices.

To date, MAP's efforts have produced more than 2,800 murals in Philadelphia through the creative labor of community volunteers, convicted felons and high-risk children.

Penn students have also contributed.

Golden helps teach a Fine Arts course in which students learn the step-by-step process of creating a mural and participate in a project run by MAP.

Last year, students painted a mural on the Charles L. Durham Free Library in Mantua, a West Philadelphia neighborhood.

According to Golden, this year's Penn class will not be affected. However "it is too soon to say how it will be affected in fiscal year 2010."

MAP was not the only program to lose funding due to the imminent budget deficit.

The city is slashing funding for arts and culture organizations by about 20 percent, with MAP set to lose about 16 percent in funding.

"Virtually all the areas of the city budget that support arts and culture were cut so that essential services like public safety are maintained," said Gary Steuer, Chief Cultural Officer at the mayor's office.

He said the city still appreciates MAP's work.

"The city has extraordinary value for what MAP does and we all hope that the financial situation recovers," Steuer said.

The city's total contribution of $3.1 million makes up less than half of MAP's $7 million budget, which is mainly comprised of grants and donations from individuals and corporations, according to Steuer.

Of the $2.1 million donated to MAP by the city's Department of Human Services, $500,000 will be cut from programs that are directed toward at-risk youth.

MAP receives another $1 million from the office of the city's managing director.

To make up for the lost funds, MAP must solicit more donations.

Future cuts may be in store as well.

"There is a built in pessimism, and right now we are operating under the assumption that funding will at best be the same as 2009," Steuer said.

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