The Heinz Endowments has awarded $346,000 as part of the Creative Development Awards Program which celebrates the region’s professional artists and widen their national profile. Some of the projects that are being funded includde a series of sculptures centered on a North Side home that was a critical gathering space for early 1900s’ civil rights activists; an album featuring legends of Pittsburgh’s jazz and Cuban music communities; photographic documentation of a basketball team consisting of players with deep family connections to indigenous communities in Mexico; and virtual reality experiences that immerse viewers into the worlds of African deities and Pittsburgh’s future as an AI-influenced robotic hub.The announcement of these awardees brings the program’s support of regional artists to a total of nearly $1 million in the past 30 months. The awards aim to help advance the artists’ careers through increased visibility and professional partnership opportunities.