City of Peoria Arts & Culture
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.
@city-of-peoria-arts
Description
Our Vision: The Arts in Peoria support a vibrant cultural community that is accessible, inclusive, and inspiring for all. Library Services is innovative, interactive, inclusive, and the education hub of the community. Our Mission: To activate Peoria as a place where arts, culture, and library services are distinctly inclusive, educational, and responsive to the community.
Organization Type
Government AgencyLOCATION
UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES
Peoria Utility Box Art Wraps 2026
The City of Peoria Arts and Culture Department is seeking designs created by area artists to cover traffic signal boxes throughout the City of Peoria. Selected artist designs will be printed on vinyl and wrapped around the boxes by a third-party design fabricator. The intent of the project is to beautify the utility boxes, bringing art to otherwise utilitarian surfaces and giving artists an opportunity to develop public art experience. This opportunity is open to artists, illustrators, designers, students, and creative community members residing in the Peoria area, working in any medium, as long as the final artwork can be translated and digitally reproduced on a 2-dimensional vinyl wrap. Artists may submit up to 2 designs. Utility box sites will be located throughout the City of Peoria and will be installed in Spring 2026.
City of Peoria Arts & Culture Grant Program
ARTS AND CULTURE GRANT PROGRAM PURPOSE The mission for the City of Peoria Arts and Culture Grant Program is to extend our reach activating Peoria as a place where arts, culture, and library services are distinctly inclusive, educational, and responsive within the community. The grant program is managed by the Arts & Culture Division. The grant program provides financial support to organizations, schools, and businesses for various projects through a competitive application and grant review process. These projects directly benefit the community and are aligned with the priorities of the Arts and Culture Plan, whose overarching vision is to support a creative, artistic, cultural community with activities that are accessible, inclusive, inspiring and support a high quality of life for all.
Peoria Utility Box Art Wraps 2026
The City of Peoria Arts and Culture Department is seeking designs created by area artists to cover traffic signal boxes throughout the City of Peoria. Selected artist designs will be printed on vinyl and wrapped around the boxes by a third-party design fabricator. The intent of the project is to beautify the utility boxes, bringing art to otherwise utilitarian surfaces and giving artists an opportunity to develop public art experience. This opportunity is open to artists, illustrators, designers, students, and creative community members residing in the Peoria area, working in any medium, as long as the final artwork can be translated and digitally reproduced on a 2-dimensional vinyl wrap. Artists may submit up to 2 designs. Utility box sites will be located throughout the City of Peoria and will be installed in Spring 2026.
City of Peoria Arts & Culture Grant Program
ARTS AND CULTURE GRANT PROGRAM PURPOSE The mission for the City of Peoria Arts and Culture Grant Program is to extend our reach activating Peoria as a place where arts, culture, and library services are distinctly inclusive, educational, and responsive within the community. The grant program is managed by the Arts & Culture Division. The grant program provides financial support to organizations, schools, and businesses for various projects through a competitive application and grant review process. These projects directly benefit the community and are aligned with the priorities of the Arts and Culture Plan, whose overarching vision is to support a creative, artistic, cultural community with activities that are accessible, inclusive, inspiring and support a high quality of life for all.