arts and culture programming – Apr 25

Posted by William Penn Foundation on April 8, 2025

William Penn Foundation issues RFP for arts and culture programming

The William Penn Foundation (WPF) in Philadelphia is committed to expanding access to resources and opportunities that promote a more vital and just city and region for all.

The foundation has issued an RFP for arts and culture programming and aims to support efforts that connect more Philadelphians to high-quality arts and culture experiences that reflect the cultural diversity of the region and contribute to its vibrancy. To that end, the foundation will prioritize support for performances, exhibitions, and other arts and culture projects designed to address historic inequities of access to arts and culture experiences.

The foundation requests proposals for one- to two-year projects to increase opportunities for people across the region to engage with a range of high-quality arts and culture experiences. This funding opportunity is for activities beginning in or after August 2025. Proposed projects must focus on inclusive and equitable opportunities that seek to extend programming beyond an organization’s traditional or core audience. Proposed projects should make arts and culture experiences accessible to communities that have not been previously engaged and/or increase audience diversity more broadly.

Two arts and culture programming RFPs are scheduled over the next 12 months. This RFP will support projects that make arts and culture experiences accessible to communities the recipient organization has not previously engaged and/or will increase the organization’s audience diversity more broadly.

WPF funds the following disciplines: dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literary arts, media arts, music, musical theater, opera, multidisciplinary arts, theater, and visual arts. Organizations that are not primarily arts and culture organizations must have a history of high-quality artistic programming and the appropriate artistic staff.

WPF has a total of $3.5 million available to advance this objective through this RFP. There is no minimum amount of funding that projects may request but the most competitive proposals will likely be those with total grant requests under $300,000. The grant amount requested should be commensurate with the contribution that the project will make to the overall objective. At least $1 million of the total amount awarded under this RFP will be reserved for grants to organizations that have budgets under $1 million per year and/or are led by individuals who are members of groups with a history of discrimination or exclusion.

To be eligible, applicants must be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)(3) public charities or operate under a public charity fiduciary.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the William Penn Foundation website.

Deadline: April 25, 2025