The Investing in Professional Artists program, a shared commitment of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments, has awarded $215,000 in total to 15 local artists and organizations this cycle. The purpose of the program is to advance arts and culture in the Pittsburgh region, and the new grants support Pittsburgh-based artists from varied disciplines.
A panel of artists and scholars at both the national and regional levels, listed below, chose the 15 grantees from a pool of 119 local individuals and organizations. The grantees were selected based not only on the quality of their work, but also on the potential of their proposal to advance their careers. Recipients come from a wide range of artistic disciplines.
Since 2011, 115 artists and organizations have received a total of about $1.8 million from the Investing in Professional Artists Program. All the selected projects meet four key goals of the program: supporting creative development for professional artists; creating career advancement and recognition opportunities for artists; encouraging creative partnerships between artists and local organizations; and increasing the visibility of working artists.