Overview
The PCA’s mission is to strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of Pennsylvania’s communities through the arts.
We work to connect PA communities and the commonwealth's creative sector with relevant tools and game-changing opportunities.
The PCA reaches all 67 counties in Pennsylvania through its investments in arts and cultural production, creative placemaking, accessibility, capacity building, arts in education, and the growth and sustainability of creative small businesses and creative entrepreneurs.
We offer tools to help make your community competitive
Through the PCA's programs for and investments in the commonwealth's creative sector, we offer:
Grants for Arts Organizations and Arts Programs – Ensure your community offers a variety of cultural amenities that enhance quality of life.
Arts-Based Community and Economic Development Support – Jump start your quality of place with multi-year assistance up to $100,000. Reactivate your main streets and commercial corridors, develop signature cultural events, or attract entrepreneurs and other key professional talent.
Access to Patient Capital for Creative Small Businesses – Grow creative industries in your community with access to patient and flexible capital ranging from $5,000 to $250,000.
Pathways to Start or Grow a Creative Small Business – Make your entrepreneurial ecosystem shine and attract and retain entrepreneurs in your community with access to free business development consultation and financial assistance of $2,000.
Building stronger communities takes creativity
The PCA supports jobs, builds communities, inspires lifelong learning, promotes the Commonwealth and sparks innovation through its portfolio of funding opportunities.
Our strategies are built around the belief that:
A state is only as strong and competitive as its communities.
- Communities compete for residents, a talented workforce, and investment.
- A robust creative sector is a competitive differentiator for Pennsylvania communities.
Quality of place makes a difference.
- Thriving arts and culture activities and amenities are natural attractors for visitors, residents, investment, and to incentivize relocation of talent critical to a community’s prosperity.
- The creative sector not only raises the visibility of communities but also adds $30 billion to our economy and employs more than 175,000.
- Creative sector assets are fundamental to prosperity, as many commonwealth communities—both rural and urban—face challenges related to business starts, population loss, and access to capital.
PCA History
On October 26, 1966, Governor William D. Scranton signed enabling legislation establishing the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Through the provisions of Act 538, the Council is charged with "the encouragement and development of the various arts" in the Commonwealth. Funding for the PCA comes from the citizens of Pennsylvania through an annual state appropriation by the General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a federal agency.
The Council's grants programs began in 1968 with a modest program of support for community arts festivals. Currently, the PCA accomplishes its mission through a combination of grants to the arts; partnerships and initiatives; technical assistance to partners and applicants; and by serving as a resource for arts-related information for public officials, other agencies of state government, and the general public. The PCA undertakes partnerships and initiatives to leverage opportunities, to seek solutions to challenges affecting the arts in the Commonwealth, and to initiate programs that will serve a broad spectrum of artists, arts organizations and arts participants throughout the state.