The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture is the city's designated local arts agency. It supports, champions, and promotes the local arts, culture, and educational community to make Phoenix a great place to live, work, and visit.
About Arts and Culture
The arts inspire and bring joy to residents; they beautify public spaces, strengthen community pride and identity, help students academically, and bolster the economy.
The agency works by:
- Managing an award-winning public art program that works in neighborhoods with local, national, and international artists to create a more beautiful and vibrant city.
- Investing annually in grants to nonprofit arts organizations and artists to ensure cultural services and opportunities are accessible to Phoenix residents of all ages.
- Overseeing cultural facilities that engage and serve residents and draw more than eight million visitors annually.
- Promoting professional development opportunities for individual artists and administrators to help sustain a healthy cultural workforce.
- Supporting programs and events for students to help develop their personal, social, and intellectual skills that are critical to success in life, school, and work.
- Participating in national studies and administering field research to make a strong case for the arts to demonstrate their economic, social, practical, and educational benefits.
In addition to the department’s flagship programs, the agency oversees and supports the City's Youth and Education Office, Archaeology Office, and the S'edav Va'aki Museum.
Land Acknowledgment:
The City of Phoenix acknowledges that Phoenix is located within the homeland of the O’odham and Piipaash peoples and their ancestors, who have inhabited this landscape from time immemorial to present day. The landscape is sacred and reflects cultural values central to the O’odham and Piipaash way of life and their self-definition. This acknowledgment demonstrates our commitment to work in partnership with the ancestral Indigenous communities to foster understanding, appreciation and respect for this heritage.
Our Commitment:
The agency believes in fair treatment, access, and opportunity for all individuals. Our equity strategy aims to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented marginalized groups from full participation in the agency's programs and to strengthen equity, diversity, and inclusion in the arts and culture sector for all Phoenix residents. The City of Phoenix fully endorses and supports equal business and employment opportunities for all persons, regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, genetic information, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.