Press Releases

PECO Energy & the Lenfest Foundation Offer Support to ArtsRising

The Philadelphia Education Fund (The Ed Fund) is pleased to announce that it was awarded several substantial grants to support ArtsRising; a grant award from PECO Energy in the amount of $40,000 and a grant award from the Lenfest Foundation in the amount of $100,000. ArtsRising is a collaborative art for youth initiative of the Philadelphia Education Fund, Fleisher Art Memorial (Fleisher) and Public Citizens for Children and Youth.

PECO supports lifelong learning programs that seek to accomplish the following results: encourage students to stay in school and develop their full potential, partner with area schools to promote math and science, improve workforce skills and encourage personal development through scholarships, mentoring and internships. They also support Arts & Culture programs designed to make arts and culture more accessible to a wider audience. The Lenfest Foundation, established in 2000, is dedicated to supporting programs primarily in the areas of education, arts and the environment. The Lenfest Foundation noted that it is pleased to be a part of an innovative effort to make the arts an integral part of education of all children in the Philadelphia area.

The mission of ArtsRising is to improve and expand equitable access to arts education for children in the Greater Philadelphia Region so that youth are better engaged in school and in their community, persistent through high school graduation, and prepared for post secondary opportunities and for the 21st Century Workforce. Following a public launch announcing the initiative and its new Director, Varissa McMickens, ArtsRising is now working with school-based staff and community members in and around five Philadelphia public middle schools selected as inaugural ArtsZone hubs – CCA Baldi, Dimner Beeber, Warren G. Harding, John B. Stetson, and Grover Washington, Jr.

PECO and Lenfest join an impressive group of early supporters of ArtsRising, including: the Wallace Foundation, which has committed $400,000; the William Penn Foundation, which has committed $481,000; the Samuel S. Fels Fund, which has committed $40,000; the Lincoln Financial Foundation, which has committed $20,000; and the Mayor’s Inaugural Campaign, which has committed $105,000. For more information on ArtsRising, contact Varissa McMickens, Director, at 215-665-1400, ext. 3342 or vmcmickens@philaedfund.org.

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