FRIEDA

What FRIEDA does

FRIEDA (legal entity FRIEDA Philadelphia LLC) is a Philadelphia-based not-for-profit community organization founded on October 26, 2015 and headquartered at 320 Walnut Street in Center City, adjacent to Independence National Historical Park. Its stated mission is to foster connections across generations, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds through arts, culture, food, and shared experiences. Programming is delivered primarily in person at the single Philadelphia venue and spans rotating art exhibitions (the A Closer Look series), recurring Community Suppers (78 held as of mid-2026), bi-weekly Soup Connection gatherings, WE Weekend creative workshops for children and families, language conversation groups in Spanish, French, Greek, and Italian, cultural excursions to museums and performing arts venues, documentary film nights, mixology classes, and the STUFFED Outreach creative-writing program serving Philadelphia-area schools since November 2024.

The organization's revenue model is diversified across six streams: recurring annual membership fees, per-event ticketing (typically $12–$105+ per attendee), on-site café food and beverage sales, sales of community products such as the multigenerational FOOD BOOK and exhibition artwork (with artist commission splits), exhibition artwork sales, and voluntary donations. Distribution is community-led, driven by word-of-mouth and member referrals, with marketing executed through the frieda.community website, an email newsletter, Instagram (@friedaforgenerations), and Facebook (/frieda4gens). Customer segments are mixed across artists and creatives, families and multigenerational groups, paying members, schools, and language learners.

The underlying technology stack is entirely composed of commodity, off-the-shelf tools: WordPress and WooCommerce power the website and online store, Square handles payment processing, SimpleTix manages event ticketing, and Google Analytics provides web traffic measurement. There is no proprietary technology, no AI/ML capability, no mobile app, and no public API. FRIEDA holds no patents or trademarks and has no disclosed institutional investors, with the sole external capital event being a $5,000 Comcast RISE grant in August 2023.

Name

FRIEDA

Legal name

FRIEDA Philadelphia LLC

Website

https://frieda.community

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FRIEDA is a Philadelphia-based not-for-profit community organization, founded in 2015, that delivers arts, cultural, and culinary programming — including exhibitions, workshops, community suppers, and language classes — to a local membership of artists, families, and multigenerational groups at its 320 Walnut Street venue.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Arts and Cultural Programming

NAICS

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Supper Clubs & Dinner-Theater Restaurants (THAFACAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Culinary Skills Workshops (Baking, Regional Cooking, Food Prep Skills) (THAJAKAE)

Keywords

• Community arts programming
• Cultural workshop events
• Art exhibition programming
• Community supper dining
• Intergenerational community events

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees providing access to member-only events, discounts at the café, and priority registration for programs
2. Event and Workshop Fees: Ticketed events including community suppers, workshops, artist talks, film screenings, excursions, and classes ranging from $12-$105+ per person
3. Café Sales: Food and beverage sales at the FRIEDA café, including breakfast items and catering for events
4. Food Book Sales: Sale of FRIEDA's community cookbook 'FOOD BOOK' featuring stories and recipes from members
5. Artwork Sales Commission: Sale of artwork during exhibitions with proceeds supporting both artists and FRIEDAcommunity
6. Donations: Voluntary donations from members and supporters to support community programs

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

FRIEDA operates a Philadelphia-based community arts and cultural center at 320 Walnut Street, offering a programmed mix of rotating art exhibitions, hands-on creative workshops, ticketed community suppers and culinary events, language conversation groups, cultural excursions, documentary film screenings, and participatory art projects. Programming is delivered in-person at the FRIEDA café/gallery space and supported by membership fees, per-event ticket sales, café and merchandise revenue, and donations.

Product overview

FRIEDA (FRIEDA Philadelphia LLC) is a not-for-profit community organization operating at 320 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, whose mission is to foster genuine connections between people of all generations, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds through arts, culture, food, and shared experiences. The organization operates primarily as an in-person community center with an associated café and online store. The core FRIEDAcommunity program offers a diverse portfolio of activities including: art exhibitions under the 'A Closer Look' series featuring rotating local and regional artists; WE Weekend hands-on creative workshops for all ages; the Soup Connection bi-weekly gatherings combining food with creative activities and language practice; numbered Community Suppers with multi-course meals; cultural Excursions to museums and performances; Language Classes in Spanish, French, Greek, and Italian; STUFFED Outreach creative writing programs for students; and Film Nights with documentary screenings. Supporting offerings include the FOOD BOOK (a community cookbook), the FRIEDA Store (e-commerce for merchandise and art), and FRIEDA Café. The technology infrastructure is powered by WordPress and WooCommerce, with Square for payment processing, Google Analytics for site analytics, and SimpleTix for event ticketing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• STUFFED: An immersive and collaborative art project that evolved into a creative writing outreach program serving Philadelphia students
• WE Weekend
• Soup Connection
• Community Suppers
• A Closer Look
• FOOD BOOK
• FRIEDA Store

Products and services

• A Closer Look (Art Exhibitions) Rotating juried art exhibition series featuring local and regional visual artists, with accompanying artist talks, opening receptions, and related workshops for Philadelphia-area visitors and members.
• WE Weekend Weekly hands-on creative workshops for adults, teens, and children covering arts & crafts, origami, paper flower making, comic book creation, watercolor, fabric crafts, and other art-making activities, available to members and guests on a drop-in ticketed basis.
• Community Suppers Regular ticketed multi-course community dinners prepared by FRIEDA's in-house and guest chefs, with themed menus, paired with optional wine or beverage service and open to members and guests.
• Soup Connection Recurring bi-weekly Tuesday gathering on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month featuring a vegetarian soup meal combined with rotating creative activities such as paper flower workshops, book study groups, language conversation practice, and art therapy sessions.
• Excursions Organized group day-trips and multi-day trips to cultural institutions and performances in Philadelphia, New York (Metropolitan Opera, BAM, Park Avenue Armory, Whitney, MoMA, Frick), the Berkshires, Princeton, and international destinations such as Germany.
• Language Classes Ticketed language conversation groups and classes in Spanish, French, Greek, and Italian (the latter delivered online via Zoom), taught by named instructors and offered to members and guests.
• Member Social Activities Recurring member-only social gatherings hosted at FRIEDA's community table, including Mah Jongg, Canasta, film discussions, Breakfast Club (Tuesdays), and Lunch Club (Fridays).
• Mixology Classes Ticketed interactive cocktail and mocktail-making workshops delivered in partnership with Double Strained, featuring fresh fruit and herbs with vodka, gin, and whiskey paired with small bites.
• Film Nights & Dinners Ticketed documentary film screenings held at FRIEDA followed by community dinners, often including director Q&A sessions, featuring films such as 'Knowledge is the Beginning', 'The Truffle Hunters', 'Kindness Is Contagious', and 'The Stroll'.
• STUFFED Outreach Creative writing outreach program for Philadelphia-area students, evolving from the original STUFFED puppet exhibit, with workshops led by artist P.W. Prichett inspired by puppets.
• STUFFED Art Project 2026 (Yellow Sloth Installation) Large-scale participatory art installation produced by assembling hand-strung disposable cutlery contributed by volunteers into a yellow sloth sculpture displayed above FRIEDA's entryway, led by artist P.W. Prichett.
• FOOD BOOK Community-authored multigenerational cookbook featuring recipes and personal stories contributed by FRIEDA members, sold through the FRIEDA Store with an accompanying free digital version.
• FRIEDA Store Online retail storefront selling FRIEDA merchandise including the FOOD BOOK cookbook, hand-made journals, paper flowers from the #Cultivate_Kindness project, and artwork from FRIEDA community artists.
• FRIEDA Café On-site café at FRIEDA's 320 Walnut Street Philadelphia location serving breakfast, brunch, lunch, and event catering, with a 20% member discount during Breakfast Club hours.
• #Cultivate_Kindness Participatory paper-flower art project in which volunteers create handmade paper flowers that are given away to strangers to inspire kindness, supplemented by flower market installations and sales of the resulting artwork.
• Map Discovery Project Community-engaged art project in which contributing artists create original work inspired by photographs of Philadelphia neighborhood destinations, using media ranging from pen-and-ink to oil paintings.

Quantifiable outcome

• 78 Community Suppers held as of May 2026
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Alliance FrancaisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFRIEDA partners with Alliance Francaise to co-host the International Festival of Francophone Authors, bringing together more than 15 authors for meet & greet and book signing events at FRIEDA's Philadelphia location.
• P.W. PrichettcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtist P.W. Prichett created FRIEDA's large-scale participatory art projects including STUFFED and the 2026 SLOTH installation, contributing over 1,000 hours of creative volunteering. Her work laid the foundation for FRIEDAcommunity's outreach program.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• EatWith: Platform connecting diners with host-chef communal dining experiences. Comparable to FRIEDA's Community Suppers model in monetizing curated, themed, multi-course dinner experiences as a ticketed product.
• Museum of Ice Cream: Experiential museum concept combining themed installations with food tastings and retail. Comparable in monetizing curated cultural/experiential content with integrated food at premium ticket prices.

Regional players

• FringeArts: Philadelphia performing arts venue producing curated performance programming with on-site food/beverage. Comparable to FRIEDA's combination of curated cultural experiences and integrated food service within the same Philadelphia market.
• The Clay Studio: Philadelphia ceramics nonprofit offering classes, exhibitions, and community programming. Comparable to FRIEDA's combination of arts instruction, exhibitions, and community engagement mission in the Philadelphia market.
• Cherry Street Pier: Philadelphia mixed-use arts and community space hosting rotating artists, food vendors, and events. Comparable in the hybrid arts/community/food model, though operating on a larger industrial scale.

Direct peers

• Painting with a Twist: National paint-and-sip studio chain offering ticketed creative workshops with food/beverage. Directly comparable to FRIEDA's WE Weekend workshops, Mixology Classes, and other ticketed arts experiences that combine creative instruction with food/drink.
• Open House New York: Nonprofit producing ticketed cultural tours, excursions, and events that build community around shared experiences. Highly comparable to FRIEDA's excursion programming and community-event mission-driven structure.

Broad incumbents

• 92nd Street Y (92Y): New York-based cultural and community center offering classes, talks, concerts, and family programming. Closest structural analog to FRIEDA's multi-program community model combining arts, education, food, and events under one roof.
• ICE (Institute of Culinary Education): Major cooking school offering recreational and professional culinary classes. Comparable to FRIEDA's culinary workshops and mixology classes, though operating at a much larger professional education scale.
• Sur La Table: National cooking school and kitchenware retailer offering in-person culinary classes and experiences. Comparable to FRIEDA's mixology workshops and food-focused community events in combining culinary instruction with retail and event revenue.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/frieda4gens
• Instagraminstagram.com/friedaforgenerations

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FRIEDA