The People’s Budget Office calls to reallocate resources from programs like policing, debt servicing, and fossil fuels towards enhancing social services, financial safety nets, and renewable energy are resonating in cities across the United States. Services that empower, rather than undermine, those most affected by crime, poverty, and public health challenges unite communities by providing resources rather than pitting them against each other in a struggle for limited support. Black, Brown, and immigrant communities disproportionately confront a harsh reality marked by insufficient funding, systemic injustices, and adverse environmental conditions that threaten their survival. While budgets are complex financial documents, they are also mission statements for the city – a real-world accounting of officials’ priorities. Organizations that advocate for a just budget recognize that building a multi-issue and multi-racial coalition is necessary for providing for all Philadelphians.
The Year 3 installation aimed to educate residents about the city budget and provide a platform for inquiry and advocacy. During the installation, resident artists, Erik Ruin, Arshayla Robinson, Maria Möller, josh graupera, hosted the budget office and contributed creative interpretations of the budget. Participants learned about the proposed budget through printed resources, council hearings, and convenings and were encouraged to add to an idea board of funding priorities and advocate at public hearings. During the installation, artists were invited to interpret the budget and visualize issues such as libraries, illegal dumping, art in schools, taxes and progressive revenue, alternatives to incarceration, and harm reduction. The funding priorities gathered on-site helped shape the People’s Budget Report and were shared with Philadelphia’s City Council and the City’s Budget Office.
