Drexel study of Mantua and Powelton

Three faculty members from the arts administration program and several student assistants conducted six focus groups at the West Philadelphia Community Center. They also conducted approximately 450 short interviews on street corners, at community events, in local businesses, and other locations in the study area (the Schuylkill River to 40th Street and Mantua Avenue to Market Street).

Dr. Andrew Zitcer, assistant teaching professor, said the study was important because “we wanted to collaborate on a project to get to know our neighborhood better.”

Neville Vakharia, assistant professor and research director, thought the study was important because “the neighborhoods are here in Drexel University’s backyard. Drexel has an interest in ensuring the health and sustainability of the neighborhoods.”

Zitcer thinks these areas need to be included in discussions about the city’s arts and culture scene. “People should try to see these neighborhoods as integral to the cultural fabric of Philadelphia,” he said. Through the study, Zitcer thinks he got to know the area better. He was surprised by the amount of artistic activity.

“There are a ton of artists that live in the neighborhood, organizations doing beautification, and places where we wouldn’t necessarily know [people] were toiling every day trying to make this neighborhood strong,” he said.

He wasn’t surprised, though, by respondents' attitudes about the arts. “People’s passion for the work that they do shined through in a way that is typical of artists and people who care about the arts,” he said.

Assets, not action

According to the study, local cultural assets include resident artists and organizations; religious, civic, and educational organizations offering artistic activities and programs; and organizations outside of the neighborhoods that offer activities within, such as the Mural Arts Program and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. There are also larger institutions nearby, including Drexel, the Philadelphia Zoo, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Please Touch Museum.

But even with established artists and organizations in and around the area, that part of West Philadelphia isn’t considered an art and culture activity hub. The study cites several reasons: low public investment, the lack of a support network, a need for stronger connections between artists and the community, and a lack of centralized communications efforts.

The challenges are relevant to arts and culture, they said, but also “relate to broader social issues.” According to the study, residents see arts and culture as a crucial part of their neighborhood’s ability to educate youth, build employment skills, bridge generations, and revitalize community spaces. And the researchers believe that building networks to enable communication and collaboration among and within the neighborhoods and the arts, as well as connecting the cultural assets to the area’s civic agenda, are key.

Dollars and cents

Low public investment could be enhanced through access to economic development support provided by city and state programs, according to the report. Mantua’s recent designation as a Promise Zone — an area with which the federal government partners and invests to create jobs, leverage private investment, increase economic activity, expand educational opportunities, and improve public safety — could provide easier access to federal support. The cultural clusters should be an integral part of funding and other support proposals, researchers said.

Respondents resoundingly discussed how much they value the arts, which surprised Vakharia. “Despite the structural challenges these neighborhoods face, you might think they wouldn’t be as interested,” he said.

According to the study, parts of the research area have lower incomes compared to other parts of Philadelphia — some as low as $15,000 per year. Many in Powelton Village, though, earn more than $85,000 annually. In the study area’s southern section, nearly half of its workers are in health and education professions. The northern section also has many workers in those fields, but in service occupations. Some neighborhoods struggle with dwindling population, crime, and other challenges.

A tale of two cities

The study calls it a tale of two cities. Rob Blackson, Director of Temple Contemporary at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art that aims to creatively reimagine the social function of art through questions of local relevance and international significance, agrees.

“The moneyed lower half of the surveyed area sits in stark contrast to the upper portions of Mantua,” he said. “Due to these inequities, this is not a level playing field.”

Blackson has spent time in Mantua as the director for a community art project called Funeral for a Home. The yearlong project included several events leading up to the funeral for and demolition of the dilapidated house at 3711 Melon Street. This project explored the history of the house and the neighborhood. Organizers found that Mantua, though it may be struggling financially, boasts rich cultural and personal histories. The project coordinators interacted extensively with residents, which they said was important as changes continue and urban development increases.

Blackson believes that encouraging local residents, artists, cultural organizations, and University-affiliated groups to unite to support existing and new cultural initiatives is “a worthy enterprise” and “an effort that hinges on good ideas, money, and real estate,” he said. “The numerous Mantua-based civic associations have no shortage of good ideas. What they lack is real estate and money.”

As Blackson noted, researchers suggest that the amount of investment in the study area is not what it needs to be. “Financial resources are one key thing that could help build the neighborhood,” Vakharia said. “They deserve more levels of public and private support,” Zitcer agreed. “The arts enrich the lives of the people there.”

Issues of trust

Better communication could help, too. The Drexel study found that some residents distrust the area’s larger institutions like the university. People have concerns about what expansion means for the future of the neighborhoods. “Drexel is a key player in this neighborhood and could do a better job of communicating its plans,” Vakharia said.

The solution to the communications problem seems easy: “Bringing all the stakeholders to the table is important. We hope that’s what this report will start to spawn. This study begins a conversation,” Vakharia said.

Blackson believes that Mantua and Powelton just need time to “catch up in the money and real estate categories,” he said. “Mantua can do this now through self-organizing funding streams that will further employment, education, and civic infrastructure by applying for federal grants and utilizing the bonus points afforded through their designation as a Promise Zone.”

He also thinks they could leverage their political clout and the power of their civic associations to potentially take ownership of vacant land. “All of this could lead to a more equitable and generative exchange of creative ideas and resources in the surveyed area,” he said.

In the meantime, Blackson had one additional observation that could benefit large institutions, the arts community, and the neighborhoods: “It would behoove Drexel and UPenn in the trust department,” he said, “if they cooled it for a while with their expansions.”