Arts Council Awards $450,000 to 55 Local Artists and Arts Organizations
Pittsburgh – October 18, 2022 – The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council has awarded $450,000 directly to the Allegheny County arts community: $10,000 grants in general operating support to 35 arts and culture organizations, and $5,000 grants to 20 individual artists. Grants were provided to support of the creation of new work as part of its Allegheny Arts Revival Grant, a one-time grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as part of an effort to make American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds more accessible to the arts sector.
“It was exciting to receive so many applications from individuals and organizations who had never applied for our grants before,” shares Director of Development and Grantmaking, Mia Hooper. “It is very rare for small organizations to have access to unrestricted funds, as most grant programs limit the use of grants to specific and often time-limited efforts. We hope that the overwhelming response to the Allegheny Arts Revival Grant indicates the need for arts funders to support sustainable, unrestricted funding programs.”
Twenty Allegheny County artists have been awarded $5,000 to support the creation of new work including:
- Sobia Ahmad
- Sheila Ali
- Christine Bethea
- Anya Clarke-Verdery
- Amber Epps
- Jesse Factor
- MarySue Flick
- Mita Ghosal
- Nadia Jackson
- Owen Lowery
- Adil Mansoor
- Kathy Mazur
- Lori McLaughlin
- Marce Nixon
- Jameelah Platt
- Bryce Rabideau
- Ulises Ramirez
- Amir Rashidd
- Blaine Siegel
- Takeela Washington
Organizations awarded $10,000 in general operating support include:
- 25 Carrick Ave Project
- ACH Clear Pathways
- Assemble
- Associated Artists of Pittsburgh
- Autumn House Press
- Balafon West African Dance Ensemble
- Belle Voci
- Brew House Association
- Center for Civic Arts
- Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
- Contemporary Craft
- Creative Citizen Studios
- DOORS OPEN Pittsburgh
- Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh
- Film Pittsburgh
- Guardians Of Sound Inc.
- Handmade Arcade
- Kelly Strayhorn Theater
- Kente Arts Alliance
- Nandanik Dance Troupe
- New Hazlett Center for the Performing Arts
- Offroute Art
- OMA Center for Mind Body and Spirit/ Art in the Garden
- Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures
- Pittsburgh Glass Center
- Pittsburgh Opera, Inc.
- Preservation Pittsburgh
- Protohaven
- Radiant Hall
- Renaissance City Wind Music Society
- River City Brass Band
- Sankofa Village for the Arts
- The Sonny Pugar Memorial, Inc.
- The Tamburitzans
- Women of Vision's Inc.
Four grant panelists evaluated the 89 applications submitted by arts and culture organizations, and 12 more evaluated the 204 applications from individual artists. Forty-five percent of all awardees identify as individuals or organizations led by Black, Indigenous or Persons of Color, exceeding our commitment to a minimum of 40% representation. The Arts Council also committed to prioritizing funds to nonprofit arts and culture organizations with budgets of less than $250,000.
This grant program not only provided new kinds of unrestricted access, but funded projects represented by a vast diversity of neighborhoods and disciplines, from the Hill District to the North Hills. More than 200 disciplines were represented, including finalists working on airplane launch paths to textile stress-relief devices, in addition to local music and performance.
Headshots of the artist grant recipients can be downloaded here, courtesy of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.
###