“Hipstoric” Old City Makes Top 12 Art Places List

Most Philadelphians and suburbanites still equate Old City with a place you’re likely to get puked on at 2 a.m., but according to a new study by ArtPlace (“a collaboration of 13 leading national and regional foundations, eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six of the nation’s largest banks to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S.” says its website), Old City is one of the country’s best places for the arts.

ArtPlace just released its America’s Top ArtPlaces 2013 list, and Old City made the cut along with San Francisco’s Mission District, neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Seattle’s Pike-Pine Corridor, and parts of Milwaukee. (Don’t knock Milwaukee. It’s cooler than you think.)

The full report (download it here) calls out the Arden Theatre Company, the Painted Bride, Art In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, and the neighborhood galleries as well as Fork and the new Hotel Monaco as contributing to the area’s artistic vibrancy. The report also refers to Old City as “hipstoric.” Let’s hope that doesn’t stick. [ArtPlace]

[PHOTO: Arden Theatre]