Executive Director

Philip Horn, Executive Director

Philip Horn has served as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) since joining the agency in 1994. Prior to that, he was the first managing director of a community art school in Michigan and worked for the California Arts Council for eleven years.

Over the course of his tenure with the PCA, the agency has enjoyed such national accolades as being named among governments top 50 Best and Brightest agencies in the Innovations in American Government Award, a national program of Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government. Horn's leadership has led to fundamental changes in how the PCA does business, and expanded the reach of state arts funding across the Commonwealth. The PCA was the first agency of Pennsylvania state government to deploy an electronic grant application. Horn was instrumental in the establishment of the Center for Arts Management and Technology at Carnegie Mellon University. Through implementation of a unique, streamlined grantmaking approach, the PCA doubled its number of grantees and expanded its service, while decreasing internal processing costs. The streamlining of the grants system enabled the PCA to realign its staff to work closely with new applicants, guide new partnerships and initiatives, and provide expanded services.

With the creation of the groundbreaking public/private partnership, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour (PennPAT) 1997-2014, PCA collaborated with The Heinz Endowments, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the William Penn Foundation, and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to form the first statewide partnership of Pennsylvania's major public/private funders in support of the arts. He fostered the development of the Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project (PACDP), a revolutionary cultural data collection and reporting tool. His innovative cultural tourism strategies have resulted in such bringing such noteworthy events as the First National Performing Arts Convention to Pennsylvania. Horn served on national and international boards and committees, including the National PTA Board, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF), the Executive Committee of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), and the Japan/U.S. Cultural Trade Network, of which he was co-chair.

Awards and honors include Juniata College's Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa); NASAA's prestigious Gary Young Award, given to a state arts agency executive director who exemplifies leadership, innovative thinking, sustained commitment to public support for the arts, and dedication to diverse cultural expression. In 2013, he received the prestigious Sidney R. Yates Award for Outstanding Advocacy from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters.