A New Marketing Campaign - With Art Philadelphia™ - to Promote the Visual Arts Announced

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter today announced the city's first-ever coordinated and sustained visual arts marketing campaign called With Art Philadelphia™. The $2 million, two-year campaign aims to: position Philadelphia, Pennsylvania among the world's great art destinations; draw more and new audiences; and generate overnight stays from visitors worldwide. With Art Philadelphia will launch in March 2012, just prior to the opening of the Barnes Foundation's Philadelphia campus on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in May.

The campaign will tell Philadelphia's robust story along five themes:

• The Visual Arts Story: Philadelphia's creative sector is rich and diverse, encompassing a wide range of experiences that With Art Philadelphia will promote. Visitors can see a Barnes-related exhibit at a major institution like the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia, June 20 through September 3) or the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA and Dr. Barnes, April 7 through July 8). They can check out the work of emerging artists at a collective such as InLiquid or Vox Populi. Or, they can attend one of the city's popular annual art events like DesignPhiladelphia or Philadelphia Open Studio Tours.
• The Parkway Story: The museum-lined Benjamin Franklin Parkway will be made even more magnificent with the addition of the Barnes Foundation, and the mile-long stretch that runs from City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art will elevate its already-stellar status as a center for art, architecture, science, public art, education and more.
• The Garden Story: Albert Barnes' creativity was not limited to the walls of his Barnes Foundation. He also had a strong horticultural vision. With Art Philadelphia will showcase the city's green assets—from the extraordinary Fairmount Park and Philadelphia International Flower Show to the wonders that are Longwood Gardens and Morris Arboretum.
• The Education Story: Education was big for Barnes, who believed in the transformative power of the arts, and it's big for Philadelphia. With the Barnes Foundation, PAFA, Moore College of Art & Design, The University of the Arts, Temple University's Tyler School of Arts and the many arts education programs available for children and the general public, Philadelphia serves as an educational playground for the creative community.
• The Philadelphia Story: Philadelphia's creativity goes beyond the visual arts to include its food, its shops, its neighborhoods and its diverse people—all of which will be highlighted as part of With Art Philadelphia.

As the campaign evolves, it will go beyond the traditional definition of visual art to embrace the region's bountiful gardens, high-fashion boutiques, design initiatives, independent collectives, public art and annual events.

The founding partners involved in With Art Philadelphia—City of Philadelphia, GPTMC, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art and PAFA—realized that Philadelphia would be the center of the biggest art story in the world in 2012, when the Barnes Foundation's Philadelphia campus debuts on the culturally rich Benjamin Franklin Parkway with one of the world's greatest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings. Together, the collaborative will leverage the energy of this significant moment by collaborating to generate sustained attention on its wide-ranging arts and culture scene.

The With Art Philadelphia™ collaborative is a first-of-its-kind partnership to position Philadelphia among the world's great art destinations and to increase visitation to the region from around the world. The group is made up of the City of Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Parkway Council Foundation, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, PNC and PECO.

For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit visitphilly.com or uwishunu.com, where you can build itineraries; search event calendars; see photos and videos; view interactive maps; sign up for newsletters; listen to HearPhilly, an online radio station about what to see and do in the region; book hotel reservations and more. Or, call the Independence Visitor Center, located in Historic Philadelphia, at (800) 537-7676.

SOURCE Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation