Over the summer, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and Pennsylvania Citizens for the Arts asked Mike Fisher and Ed Rendell to each submit a statement on the arts in Pennsylvania. GPCA recently distributed the two statements to aid voters in the gubernatorial race.

Republican Fisher notes that Pennsylvania is ranked about 20th in per capita arts funding. "In these tough times there is a proposed reduction in funding," he writes. "As Governor, I am committed to funding arts and culture communities. Once state revenues allow, I would like to restore funding to the $15.4 million level and hopefully increase funding in the future." Governor Mark Schweiker froze $1.4 million of the allotted $15.4 million in February, leaving many local arts groups scrambling.

Fisher's numbers are a little less precise when it comes to comparing Pennsylvania's arts institutions to the rest of the country. "We are the only state in the nation with two symphonies and two ballets," he declares. Clearly this is not true, as many states, including Pennsylvania, have more than two symphonies or ballets (California alone blows this statistic out of the water). GPCA's president Peggy Amsterdam says her organization posted the statements without any editing, but says they did note the error. She adds that one of the reasons GPCA wanted these statements was to "find out where we need to educate the candidates."

Kevin Harley, Fisher's press manager, says this was a simple typo -- the statement should have read that we are the only state with two "centers" that contain both symphonies and ballets (here and in Pittsburgh).

Fisher ends his statement by promising to "take Pennsylvania to the world," and adds the not-so-subtle swipe: "I will not rely on my legendary charisma. I'll stick to the facts."

As for Mr. Charisma, Democrat Rendell comes out right away with a strong promise for Pennsylvania artists, though he fails to give any hard numbers. Touting his work as mayor on the Avenue of the Arts (he mentions the Kimmel, CAPA, Freedom Theater and the Arts Bank), Rendell promises to "provide unprecedented support to Pennsylvania's arts community." He adds, "The impact of the arts and cultural industry -- both in terms of economics and quality of life -- is extremely important to the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and we must continue to provide it with a high level of support."

This year, City Paper's annual photography contest joined forces with the new Center for the Photographic Image. CPI, created by Todd Vachon and photographer Dominic Episcopo, is a fledgling nonprofit dedicated to "reaching out to the photo community and creating more of a dialogue with photographers," Episcopo says. "We're trying to create a center for photography in Philadelphia, but we're not funded so the only way we could do that is by having a museum without walls." Pairing up with City Paper allowed CPI to host an exhibit with walls, opening at the end of the month.

CPI asked Peter Hay Halpert to judge the contest. A native Philadelphian now living in New York, Halpert is known for his photography collections, curating and criticism. "When you're based here in New York, it's very easy to get sucked into believing that this is the center of the art universe, and that if it's not here it doesn't exist," says Halpert. "But a competition like this reminds me that's not the case at all."

He was somewhat surprised by the Philly aesthetic. "With this competition, although it's contemporary work, most of the work was not particularly political or confrontational, and there was very little conceptual-based art. [There was] some very traditional work, and I'm not saying that in any pejorative sense." Halpert cites a phrase used to describe 17th-century Dutch genre painters -- "they painted what was at their elbow" -- and insists "that wasn't meant in a demeaning way. Their legacy are some of the most amazing still lifes, what was literally on the table at the time, and what we have here is a chronicle of what's going on in Philadelphia and the surrounding region."

Halpert sorted through slightly less than 600 entries, narrowing the pool to 60 winning shots by 37 artists. He singled out six of those artists for special recognition: Siobhan Edmonds, Candace M. Vivian, Benjamin Harris, Samuel Peltz, Richard Kaplinski and Kirsty Gilbert. Prizes include $250 gift certificates toward a continuing education course at UArts and a membership to Inliquid.com.

Halpert also singles out one artist whose work particularly struck him. "Shauna Frischkorn did a series called Gameboys.' Each depicts an individual young man looking up, and his face is illuminated by the glow of what apparently is a video game. These are kind of stark portraits set against a dark background, but you almost instantly get what they're about and the statement they're making."

The exhibit of all 60 winning photos opens on First Friday, Nov. 1, at Gallery Siano (309 Arch St.). For more information, visit www.centerforthephotographicimage.com.

After one year as managing director of Pig Iron Theatre Co. (and a stint as the Wilma's marketing director before that), and after recently being appointed secretary of the Theatre Alliance, Damian Sinclair is moving on. Sinclair and his wife are moving to Washington, D.C., where he will be marketing director at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co., one of the country's best known smaller theater companies.

The Barrymore Awards returned to the Annenberg Center this year after 2001's ceremony at the Independence Seaport Museum caused much grumbling due to its inadequate size (the Theatre Alliance's offer for folks to buy cheaper tickets to watch the show on TV from another room was not well-received). Fortunately, local actor and teacher Tony Braithwaite was back as host, despite having raised a few hackles last year after making several jokes at the Theatre Alliance and the Seaport Museum's expense. But TAGP wisely let bygones be bygones, and Braithwaite came equipped this time with an arsenal of jokes about topics and people he was "forbidden" to make fun of. From his opening musical number to his closing crack that, after a three-plus hour ceremony, it was now finally time for intermission, Braithwaite charmed the crowd, whether he was torturing the sign language interpreters or heading out into the crowd for some good-natured baiting.

As for the rest of the show, it was full of love: numerous winners offered heartfelt thank-yous to their significant others, and stage-manager-about-town Brady Gonsalves surprised his S.O. --TAGP's Barrymore administrator Jennifer Hayden -- with an on-stage marriage proposal. She accepted, to a standing ovation.

Also finding the love were Mum Puppettheatre's crowd of supporters, who got to cheer Mum's lauded production of Equus as it took home five Barrymores (the most of any production), including Outstanding Overall Production of a Play, Outstanding Direction of a Play (for William Roudebush), Outstanding Choreography (Robert Smythe), Outstanding Ensemble in a Play and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play, which went to Tobias Segal, who made his professional debut with Equus. Segal joked that a friend told him to bring his award to his "basic acting class" at Temple later in the week.

The loudest part of the crowd had to be the Villanova crew, who nearly caused a riot each time their production of Chicago took home one of its three awards. Charlotte Cloe Fox won Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical (beating out the likes of Cherry Jones and Andrea Marcovicci), Mike Dees took home Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical and Father Peter M. Donohue was honored with Outstanding Direction of a Musical (Braithwaite did not miss the chance to point out the irony of a Catholic priest taking home an award for directing the sex- and- crime-filled Chicago).

Another big winner for the evening was the Arden's production of Michael Ogborn's Baby Case, a musical account of the media frenzy surrounding the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Baby Case picked up a Barrymore for Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical, the first award of its kind. (In previous years, the ensemble category covered both musicals and plays; this year the two were separated.) Baby Case also won Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical and Outstanding Original Music. Scott Greer, who played Walter Winchell in Baby Case, won Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical. Greer was a big winner of the night, also receiving the coveted F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist. Greer was a finalist for the $10,000 prize in the past (his wife, actor/ director Jen Childs, won a few years ago), and he finally snagged it this time around. The announcement of the Haas winner was preceded by videotaped interviews in which the five finalists were asked such probing questions as "If you were a fruit, which fruit would you be?" (Points for sweetest answer go to set designer Nick Embree, who said he would be a kiwi because kiwis are best when accompanied by other fruits, though Greer's enthusiastic treatise on the pomegranate was also a doozy).

Seven other companies took home awards on Monday night. Out of ten companies honored, only the Wilma Theater won for more than one production. Jerold Forsyth's lighting design for Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink was recognized, and the Wilma also won two Barrymores for Yellowman, with creator/star Dael Orlandersmith winning both Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play and Outstanding New Play. Prince Music Theater won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical (Maureen Mueller) and Outstanding Costume Design (David Belugou) for Lady in the Dark. Director Ted Sperling accepted for both absent winners.

Canadian star Douglas Campbell won Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play for his role as Sir in Bristol Riverside Theatre's production of The Dresser, and, appropriately enough, Sir's dresser, Lenny Haas, accepted on his behalf. Hazel Bowers' turn as Meg in Lantern Theater Company's production of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party got her a nod as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play. In the set and sound design arenas, James F. Pyne, Jr. picked up a Barrym ore for the set of People's Light and Theatre Co.'s The Merchant of Venice, and James Sugg won Outstanding Sound Design for Pig Iron Theatre Co.'s Flop.

Theater Catalyst won PNI's award for theater education and community service for their 2nd Stage Program, dedicated to helping emerging companies produce their work. Lifetime achievement went to Philadelphia Theatre Initiative director Marcia Salvatore, who gave a rousing speech about the challenge of continuing to raise Philadelphia's profile as a theater town.