The Painted Bride Art Center – known to many Philadelphians simply as the Bride – is a nonprofit producing and presenting arts organization with over five decades of radical imagination and cultural stewardship.

Founded in 1969 in a former bridal shop on South Street, the Bride emerged as part of the national Alternative Space movement, offering a vital platform for artists traditionally excluded from museums and commercial venues.

From its earliest days, the Bride has served as a cultural trailhead for underrepresented voices – women, people of color, LGBTQ+ creatives, disabled artists – and continues to ask: What do artists and communities need now?

The Bride has always been more than a venue. It’s a living, evolving platform for interdisciplinary creation, civic dialogue, and collective transformation. From legendary performances to neighborhood-based rituals, from early hip-hop showcases to community-based healing rituals, the Bride creates the conditions for honest exchange, joyful disruption, and cultural reimagining.