The event is currently at capacity. If you are interested in being placed on the waiting list, please contact Melissa Cooper, Marketing & Events Assistant at (215) 399-3524 or melissac@philaculture.org. We will honor these requests on a first come first serve basis.

Opening Doors: Engaging the Immigrant Community in Greater Philadelphia

The immigrant population of Greater Philadelphia is booming. According to the Brookings Institute, "Among its peers, metropolitan Philadelphia has the largest and fastest growing immigrant population, which now stands at over 500,000; comprising 9 percent of the population."

According to recent research, culture is central to immigrants' need to define their place in a new society, however they face several barriers in attending established arts organizations including, language, cultural context and lack of information. Migrants, Communities, and Culture by Mark Stern, Susan Seifert and Domenic Vitiello, which analyzes the 2004 Social Impact for the Arts (SIAP) survey done in collaboration with Alan Brown, tells us that "across a range of informal creative activities, immigrants were often more involved than US-born respondents". Interestingly, when it came to formal participation; "... immigrants attended just over half as many formal cultural events as residents born in the United States."

• What does this mean for the Philadelphia arts and cultural sector?
• How can we be sure that our doors are open to these communities?
• Can collaboration with minority and immigrant artists create new bonds between established and emerging organizations?

Join us for breakfast as we discuss Migrants, Communities, and Culture as well as two case studies about organizations who have successfully engaged migrant populations, Engaging Asian America: Opportunities and Challenges and Case Study: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's Multicultural Audience Development Project. Please visit http://www.philaculture.org/campaign/bcresearch.htm to download the readings for this session.

Your confirmation email will also have a link to the research to be read in advance of the session. If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Cooper, Marketing & Events Assistant at 215.399.3524 or melissac@philaculture.org. Space is limited, register now! 

Breakfast Clubs are supported by The Wallace Foundation and The Philadelphia Foundation and are a program of the Cultural Alliance’s research and marketing initiative Engage 2020. Engage 2020 is sponsored by a lead grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, with additional support from The Wallace Foundation and The Philadelphia Foundation.