Arts and Culture in Peoria The history of the City of Peoria’s Arts and Culture program goes back to the 1987 creation of the Peoria Arts Commission and the Percent for the Arts Program by Peoria City Council. Since that time funding for the public art program has come from a one-percent contribution from each of the City’s capital improvement projects. The Peoria Arts Grant program was created in 1998 to help promote the arts in the community. The grant program provides various funding to local arts organizations for programming in Peoria. The program is regularly modified to meet the needs of the community and is monitored to evaluate program impact. The program helps to support local arts organizations as well as attract programming from around the Phoenix region to Peoria. In Fiscal Year 2026, 42 Arts and Culture grants were awarded, totaling $300,000. In 2007, the city unveiled the new Peoria Center for the Performing Arts in Downtown Peoria. The city and community have many diverse and ambitious goals for their cultural programs. In 2009, an Arts Master Plan was created that sought to align the goals into a specific set of recommendations, which provided overarching, holistic policy direction. In 2022, a new Arts & Culture Plan was approved by the Peoria City Council and provides direction of Peoria's Arts and Culture programming into the future. The plan’s vision defines that the arts in Peoria support a vibrant cultural community that is accessible, inclusive, and inspiring for all.

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