The People’s Budget Office Invites Artists to Demystify the City’s Budget

This article is part of Reel Impact: From Screens to Streets, a column that explores how local filmmakers, activists, and community organizations are using film as a social justice tool.

In the northeast corner of Philadelphia’s LOVE Park sits a retrofitted shipping container housing art that aims to reimagine a Philadelphia for the people. The People’s Budget Office, an initiative of Mural Arts Philadelphia, is using art to transform how residents understand and influence the city’s budget. Each year, artists take over this space for two-week residencies to explore the city’s budget, transforming financial data and plans into accessible installations that help community members understand how budget decisions directly affect their lives.

Led by artist and organizer Phoebe Bachman, the People’s Budget Office aims to help everyday Philadelphians envision what a thriving city could look like by teaching them how the city’s budget works and providing pathways to advocate for changes. Some concern has arisen around Philadelphia’s public safety budget, particularly the proposed $872 million allocation to the police department for fiscal year 2026, which represents a $20 million increase. Activist groups and community organizers, including the Abolitionist Law Center, have voiced opposition to this increase, arguing that alternative investments would better serve residents. Beyond policing concerns, community members have advocated for greater investment in climate justice initiatives that address environmental impacts on vulnerable neighborhoods, education funding to strengthen public schools and youth programs, and infrastructure improvements for transportation, housing, and public spaces.

“We’re trying to build a city budget that works for everyone,” explains Bachman. “To do that, we have to show people that the budget is more than just numbers, it’s a blueprint for what our city could look like.”

This year’s residency program, running from April 18th through June 12th, features a rotating cast of local artists who each take over the LOVE Park container for approximately two weeks. During their residencies, artists create installations and use the space to connect with community members, sharing information about how the budget works and gathering public input. In addition to the artists’ projects this year, the People’s Budget Office has implemented office hours in the space, inviting city council members, advocacy groups, and departmental representatives to speak directly with their constituents and answer their questions. 

This year’s residency program features three artists exploring different aspects of the city budget with a particular focus on public safety and police funding. Artist Aaron Brokenbough Jr.‘s residency, taking place May 16-30, centers on creating a community-driven video essay examining what safety means to residents from different Philadelphia neighborhoods.

“I want to explore the idea of what can happen in a city to make all the residents feel safe,” says Brokenbough. “I found that what people consider safety and what they may need in Center City won’t be what people in Southwest Philly need.”

Working with Philadelphia’s public access TV station, PhillyCAM, Brokenbough is recording testimonies from artists and activists representing diverse areas of the city. His project raises important questions about community resources: Do neighborhoods have block captains? Community gardens? Adequate school funding? Afterschool programs? Affordable housing? Rehabilitation programs? All of these questions can support building a safe environment in place of more police funding. 

“I, as a Black, queer man, have never felt safer with more cops on the streets,” Brokenbough notes. “So I asked myself, where do I feel safe?” His project is his search for an answer and aims to amplify voices from South, Southwest, Germantown, Center City, and Northeast Philadelphia, featuring perspectives from natives, transplants, and residents of various age groups and demographics.

Community member Miguel E. Andrade shares in his testimony a concern about Philadelphia’s status as a sanctuary city in a time when similar cities are being attacked by the federal administration with executive orders, an increase in ICE presence, and threats to city funding. “I would like to see a recommitment to what it means to be a sanctuary city or a city of refuge for the community, especially in this administration where we are seeing attacks unlike any we have seen before. Now is the moment where elected officials need to respond and amplify the voice of the people,” Andrade says in Spanish during his interview. 

During his residency Brokenbough will display video testimonials in the LOVE Park container, creating a direct line of communication between residents and city officials. In addition to the pre-recorded video testimonials, from Wednesday, May 21 to Saturday, May 24, Brokenbough will conduct on-site interviews with park visitors. This project aims to address a key barrier to civic participation: considering that many residents cannot afford to take time off work or travel to attend official budget meetings, Aaron will bring the constituents directly to the council members with these video testimonials. “It sounds romantic, this idea of sharing our thoughts and feelings with our council members and our mayor,” Brokenbough reflects. “I want to make that more realistic…You have power, you have a voice. I want them to know that they have a say in what safety looks like in our city.”

In addition to Brokenbough’s project, two other artists are eager to fill the space with new ideas and an imagined future for Philadelphia that puts people first. Artist and educator Lily Xie (residency running May 2-16) will examine the police budget’s $20 million allocation for clothing and safety equipment, creating data visualization posters that compare these investments to alternative community-first investments. Her installation features designs for “community safety uniforms,” inspired by a wider variety of safety uniforms such as crossing guard vests, challenging viewers to consider how the $1.3 million earmarked for redesigning moisture-wicking uniforms for officers might serve the community differently.

Working alongside the Abolitionist Law Center, Xie hopes to show Philadelphia what we could be funding instead. She explained during an interview with cinéSPEAK that the salary for one officer in 2024 was $69,492. “One officer’s salary could give 38 kids free lunches for the full school year. It could provide three years of free housing (according to the average rent in Philly), and it equals about 3,782 doses of Narcan,” she says. During her stay, she will also invite visitors to contribute to a clothing catalogue where they can imagine new uniforms for safety, not just for police officers.

Interdisciplinary artist Ro Adler (residency running from April 18-May 2) pivoted to focus on climate justice in the city. The mapped Philadelphia neighborhoods affected by environmental issues and highlighted local organizations addressing these challenges. Their residency featured cyanotype prints they say are created by “collaborating with the sun,” and included a printmaking workshop at LOVE Park.

Visit LOVE Park’s northwest corner to learn about Philadelphia’s budget and share your input through the artist residencies hosted in the shipping container. While Ro Adler’s residency has ended, you can contribute to Lily Xie’s safety uniform catalog until May 16th. Later this month, watch the community video testimonials and share your concerns directly with council members in your own video testimonial with Aaron Brokenbough from May 16-30. Follow the People’s Budget Office on Instagram to learn more about their different initiatives to demystify the budget and check out their Program Calendar to keep up with the budget hearings and take advantage of the newly scheduled office hours with different city departments. If we want a city budget that prioritizes the needs of the people, we need to take these opportunities to voice our concerns and imagine what a safe and thriving city could look like. 

*Featured Image: Image of the People’s Budget Office in LOVE Park. Photo credit: Phoebe Bachman.