Community

Philadelphia is a vibrant arts city and is rapidly becoming known as a hub for interdisciplinary performance work. Highlighted by several major international festivals - the Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festivals, the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts - the city is also home to a number of nationally and internationally recognized theatre and dance companies, many of which are listed below.

Additionally, the city boasts several major regional theatres including The Wilma Theater, The Arden Theatre, People's Light and Theatre Company and Philadelphia Theatre Company. The city maintains an unprecedented level of support for many of its artists including fellowships through the Pew Foundation, the Independence Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Leeway Foundation and company support from the William Penn Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation and The Fels Fund, among many others.

Philadelphia's proximity to New York (90 minutes by train) and Baltimore and Washington, DC (2 hours by train) make it an ideal spot for artists to soak in many of the cultural offerings on the Eastern Seaboard. Philadelphia continues to attract young artists thanks to its affordability, its vibrant arts and culture scene, its amazing restaurants, its abundance of interesting "found" spaces for studios and rehearsals and its growing appetite for forward-thinking art.