Eric César Morales, of the Latino arts advocacy group Movimiento Administradores de Arte en Pensilvania, said he worked with elected officials to help write the language for the allotment, which serves the same goals as Preserving Diverse Cultures while avoiding words like “diverse.” The term has increasingly drawn the ire of conservatives, with the Trump administration threatening to cut funding from so-called “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” programs.

“What Preserving Diverse Cultures was doing was recognizing that there are amazing cultures all throughout the commonwealth that aren’t being represented, that need support and development,” Morales said. “Those populations can be anything, as long as they’re underserved.”

Arts organizations across the commonwealth have routinely pressed elected officials during budget season to consider arts funding, holding an annual “Arts Advocacy Day” at the capital every spring.

But this year was different, according to President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance Patricia Wilson Aden. Hundreds of groups were motivated to organize and mobilize their collective political efforts.

“The genesis of this concerted effort was the fact that the decision by PA Creative Industries to terminate long-standing legacy programs, and to change their granting criteria, was felt in every district and every ZIP code across the state,” Wilson said. “We were all shaken by these decisions, so we decided to come together to shape our advocacy agenda, to reach out to our partners in the House and the Senate, and to propose alternatives.”