Pittsburgh, Pa, August 20, 2024 – The $10 million Pittsburgh’s Cultural Treasures Initiative (PCTI), launched three years ago by The Heinz Endowments and the Ford and POISE foundations, is wrapping up its grantmaking with a collection of small to medium-sized grants to 50 Black arts organizations, artist collectives and individual artists.
Most of the awards, which total $505,000, represent the second part of a capacity-building program that began last year and has included grants, workshops and various learning opportunities for a range of groups that have not traditionally received foundation funding. This year marks the first time that individual artists and artist collectives have been included in the capacity-building efforts and the first time that individual artists have been direct recipients of funding through PCTI since its inception.
“In this new PCTI capacity-building cohort, we're excited to welcome more individual artists alongside our organizational participants because the expansion recognizes the crucial role artists play in shaping and transforming our cultural landscape,” said Maggie Richardson, president and CEO of Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise (PACE), which administers the capacity-building program on behalf of the initiative. “We are also collaborating with the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council to design and deliver this part of the program. We are grateful for the opportunity to take advantage of GPAC’s rich expertise in working with independent artists.”
The grants package also includes funding for six previous PCTI participants to further advance their work and a grant for a new promotional platform called Black Arts Pittsburgh, which will increase the visibility of the region’s Black arts community. All the recipients in this last round of grantmaking were selected and awarded grants through a community process led by PCTI committees. Final reviews and an evaluation of the overall initiative are expected to be completed next year.
“The Heinz Endowments has been delighted to partner with the Ford Foundation in investing in the dynamic array of artistic and cultural leaders unique to this region of the country,” said Heinz Endowments President Chris DeCardy. “Over three years, 76 organizations and individuals have been recognized and supported for their enduring contributions.
“We also are grateful to our local partners for engaging with us in providing this important support and for giving us direct and clear feedback for how we could better play our part as a partner in this work.”
Pittsburgh’s Cultural Treasures is a regional affiliate of America’s Cultural Treasures, which Ford created in 2020 in response to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent need to support underfunded arts organizations led by people of color. Because Black residents constitute the Pittsburgh region’s largest demographic of color, PCTI has focused on celebrating and increasing the organizational capacity of Black-led groups in southwestern Pennsylvania’s arts and culture sector.
The Endowments and the Ford Foundation each contributed $5 million to the initiative and partnered with the POISE Foundation, one of America’s oldest Black community foundations, in establishing the project in the Pittsburgh region. New York-based arts management strategist CJAM Consulting served as a facilitation and design partner for the initiative. POISE and PACE, which works to strengthen nonprofits that serve marginalized communities, also collaborated with the Endowments in designing and managing the program as well as serving as funding intermediaries.
POISE President Mark Lewis praised the benefits of the program as he reflected on its impact on Black artists, arts groups and the region’s cultural landscape overall.
“The Pittsburgh’s Cultural Treasures Initiative has infused significant resources into our region's Black-led and Black-focused arts and culture organizations over these last few years,” he said. “Arts and culture define who we are as a society. As a diverse society, it is imperative that we highlight diverse cultural experiences and, accordingly, support those organizations that lift up culture day in and out through a variety of artistic disciplines. This initiative also provided the space and opportunity for representatives from our arts community to not only share their work but also have input into how these resources were reinvested in our community.”
In Phase I of PCTI, 16 organizations were awarded grants of $150,000 to $1 million, totaling $5.4 million, in 2021. The groups were selected based on recommendations from a steering committee of national arts practitioners and Endowments staff because of their leadership in producing work that centers and seeks to advance the people and culture of Black communities in the region.
Phase II of the initiative, totaling $3.2 million, focuses on providing capacity-building support such as workshops, coaching, shared experiences among peer organizations and other learning opportunities. This second phase was designed in collaboration with PACE to include two cohorts. The first cohort, announced last year, included another 16 organizations, which were awarded one-time unrestricted grants of $10,000 each. Among the selected groups were those that had not traditionally received foundation funding. Once participants in the first cohort have completed program requirements, they will receive, on average, an additional $120,000 each over the two-year program.
In the Phase II second capacity-building cohort, nine arts organizations will each receive a one-time, unrestricted $10,000 grant and $5,000 for a capacity-building project of each group’s choice such as professional training or assistance with website development. Thirty-four artists or artist collectives will each receive $5,000 for capacity-building expenses. The total amount awarded to the Phase II second cohort is $305,000.
As part of the final round of grantmaking separate from the capacity-building program, $200,000 will be divided between a new project called Black Arts Pittsburgh and six organizations that were awarded grants in 2021 as part of Phase I of the initiative. Black Arts Pittsburgh will receive a $70,000 grant for its multifaceted platform created to increase the marketing capacity, promote sustained support, and boost the visibility of southwestern Pennsylvania’s Black arts community.
The remaining $130,000 will be divided among the six Phase I groups, enabling each to receive $21,667 each. The PCTI advisory committee, which includes representatives of organizations from the first phase of the initiative, selected groups that received Phase I grants of $150,000 – the smallest amount awarded – for the additional funding.
“Through the Pittsburgh’s Cultural Treasures Initiative, The Heinz Endowments partnered with artists, culture-bearers, elders, and community-based organizations to guide this historic investment in the remarkable diversity of Black arts and cultural practices in the Pittsburgh region,” said Endowments Creativity senior program officer Mac Howison. “The awards also have been an investment in a future where all arts and cultural practices, especially those led by historically underfunded and overlooked groups, are truly valued as Pittsburgh’s – and America’s – cultural treasures.”
All recipients in the final round of Pittsburgh’s Cultural Treasures grantmaking:
· Black Arts Pittsburgh , $70,000 to support its new promotional platform for southwestern Pennsylvania’s Black arts community
Phase I organizations receiving additional support of $21,667 each, for a total of $130,000:
· Afrika Yetu, an arts center that fosters the rich, diverse cultural perspective of people of African heritage through high-quality education, vibrant performances and visual art exhibitions.
· Balafon West African Dance Ensemble, a performance group providing insightful, woman-centered perspective on West African tradition and culture as a source of healing and balance, and provides quality education and entertainment to audiences of all nationalities and walks of life.
· BOOM Concepts, an artist studio dedicated to the development of artist and creative entrepreneurs representing marginalized voices, providing a space for field building, knowledge sharing, mentorship, and storytelling.
· PearlArts Studios, a dance-focused arts organization that provides music and media arts programming, and offers artistic experiences through creative residencies, innovative collaborations, dance and sound education, and outreach opportunities.
· Ujamaa Collective, a fair-trade marketplace that acts as a catalyst to advance Africana Women by providing a fair-trade marketplace for cultural, artistic and entrepreneurial exchange.
· Women of Visions, believed to be the longest-running collective of Black women artists in the United States, promotes the arts, culture, and history of women of African descent by helping them excel as artists and to grow professionally through exhibitions, community collaboration, and educational programming.
Phase II second capacity-building cohort receiving grants totaling $305,000
Organizations receiving $10,000 unrestricted grants and $5,000 for capacity-building:
· Black Dream Escape, a therapeutic arts practice that educates individuals and the community about the overdue sleep and rest deficit experienced by Black and Indigenous people and uses music and original meditation scripts to guide people into a rested state.
· Deen Arts, a project of the An-Nur Islamic Center, which is dedicated to creating space for arts programs, celebrations, and cultural tours related to the Islamic experience.
· Greater Pittsburgh Arts Project, a resource hub connecting artists with private, public, and nonprofit organizations that offer funding and other support, including mental health support, to Pittsburgh’s arts community members.
· Healthy Village Learning Institute, an organization that uses an African-centered process to provide learning opportunities for people of all races through artifacts, books, technology, and art.
· Live Well, a project of the Community Wellness Initiative, promotes healthy lifestyles and quality of life in underserved communities by decreasing socioeconomic barriers to wellness through education, support, and resources for personal growth and well-being.
· Moka on Soho, a community art gallery in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood focused on bringing people together for exhibits, cultural events and multi-dimensional programs.
· See Clear, a community and economic development corporation based in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, that offers youth and adult services to ignite creative and economic opportunities, provide answers to social challenges, and strengthen community vibrancy through multimedia arts, technology, and entrepreneurial initiatives.
· Creative HANDS Enrichment, a project of Take My Hand, Inc., is a STEAM-based curriculum working in unison with art therapy principles and practices, creative art self-care & emotional awareness activities that nurture personal growth.
· Harambee Soulful Black Arts Festival, a project of We The People 412, is an arts and wellness festival series in Homewood-Brushton and East Liberty.
Artists and artist collectives receiving $5,000 capacity-building grants each:
· Aaleaha Oliver, cultural worker, writer and musician
· Alexus Brown, interdisciplinary sociolinguist and music researcher
· Alicia Volcy, designer and real estate developer
· Andrenna Williams, director of Uncommon Grounds Café ministry center
· Beanie Paints, a visual art company created by face and body painter Irene Sparks
· Brandon Lee, skin care developer and lifestyle influencer
· Brickz Baebee, musician, DJ and businessman
· Crystal Noel Jalil, multidisciplinary artist and co-founder of The Coloured Section Black Artists’ Collective
· Darrin Milliner, self-taught artist, designer, archivist and founding creative director of lifestyle brand Social Living
· Daynell Marbury, owner of HelloBoutiq, which features products that are handmade from resin
· Deavron Dailey, self-taught mixed media artist who has produced works in mediums such as silk screen printing, ceramics and photography
· Freesoul El Shabazz-Thompson, multidisciplinary artist and art historian
· Gavin Benjamin, a multifaceted artist who combines original analog photography and appropriated images with collage, paint and varnish
· Girls Running Sh*t, a collective founded by graphic designer and social media marketing specialist Markeea Hart that is dedicated to providing resources, safe space and a platform for women/femmes in need
· Gregory Scott Williams Jr., creator of “Warriors,” a feature documentary film and multimedia photography and video exhibition
· Ishara Henry, self-taught visual artist who uses her creative skills to amplify marginalized voices
· Justin Dumas, visual artist with a focus on infrastructure and post-industrial items and architecture
· Karl D. Franklin, composer and guitarist
· KLG Productions, an agency founded by digital marketing specialist Jordan Giles
· Marcel Walker, freelance artist specializing in graphic prose (a.k.a. comic books), illustration and graphic design
· Marlon Gist, multidisciplinary artist and co-owner and curator of Art & Soul Cafe and Gallery located in Downtown Pittsburgh
· Mia Marshall, natural hair and cosmetics specialist and owner of Luxurae Hair
· Nick Daniels, dance choreographer inspired by global movement styles
· Onasile Barnett, host of the podcast “Pittsburgh Chatter”
· Percy Echols II, an artist in plasma light sculpture, a process that merges the technical and artistic aspects of glassblowing with the scientific application of electrified inert gases, akin to neon signs
· PVKVSV (a.k.a Hussein Pwono) Congolese-American artist, beatmaker, DJ and emerging producer
· Quentin “Cue” Perry, visual artist specializing in social, political and cultural illustrations and drawings
· Marques Redd, a multimedia artist and traditional African cosmologist who co-founded the nonprofit Rainbow Serpent Collective, which seeks to advance Black LGBTQ culture**
· Tereneh Idia, fashion designer who launched a global eco-design collaboration with OMWA: Olorgesailie Maasai Women Artists in Kenya
· Tresa Green, Black, queer, nonbinary multidisciplinary artist and writer
· Tyler Watts, painter and visual artist
· Tyra Jamison, Black, femme, queer multidisciplinary artist and poet
· yvette shipman, certified yoga and mindfulness instructor, mediator and facilitator, for the Liberation Genealogy Project, a transformative initiative dedicated to uniting Black people of African descent in Allegheny County and the southern states to reclaim and celebrate their narratives.
· Yvonne McBride, literary artist completing “Down These Mean Streets,” a historical fiction novel set in Pittsburgh's Hill District during its civil rights era.
For additional information about the Pittsburgh’s Cultural Treasures Initiative, go to https://www.heinz.org/strategic-areas/creativity/pittsburgh's-cultural-treasures. Learn more about the Phase II capacity-building program and its second cohort at Special Programs - PACE (pacepgh.org).
** A previous version of this news release incorrectly reported that the Rainbow Serpent Collective was awarded a $5,000 capacity-building grant; however, the group’s co-founder Marques Redd was the recipient.
For further information, contact:
Scott Roller
[email protected]
412-338-2619
Becky Brindle
[email protected]
412-338-2636