Pew Trusts Visual Arts Program Announces 2004 Awards: $899,782 Awarded to Ten Organizations

Philadelphia, PA- The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, a visual arts artistic development program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts, has announced its 2004 grant recipients. Ten grants have been awarded: Five for exhibitions ($802,220) and five for planning ($97,562) for a total of $899,782. With the awarding of its 2004 grants, PEI will have invested nearly $6 million over the course of seven years in exhibitions and exhibitions planning in the Philadelphia region--a commitment that makes this program unique among private foundations in the country in both focus and level of financial support.

In 2004, the exhibition grant recipients and their projects include: 

• Abington Art Center ($122,490) for a site-specific public art initiative commissioning contemporary artist J. Morgan Puett to investigate the Quaker notion of the “everyday” as sacred.   
• Asian Arts Initiative ($200,000) for Chinatown In/Flux, a site-specific community arts project featuring the works of seven contemporary artists.   
• Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts ($161,730) for a site-specific installation by Ellen Harvey responding to the museum's architecture and collections.   
• Philadelphia Museum of Art ($118,000) for a historical exhibition Pontormo, Bronzino and the Medici: The Transformation of the Renaissance Portrait.   
• University of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives ($200,000) for a survey of the architecture and design of Antonin and Noemi Raymond.

These grants reflect funding amounts that will ensure that these projects are realized at the scale and level of quality proposed in the exhibition request for support. Abington Art Center, Asian Arts Initiative, University of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts are also first-time recipients of PEI grants. 

In 2004, PEI has also continued an important aspect of the capacity-building component of its program in the form of planning grants. These awards were also identified and selected by this year's panel and given to projects of significant merit that will benefit substantially from additional research and development time. Planning projects in 2004: 

• The Fabric Workshop and Museum ($20,000) for a comprehensive exploration of new paradigms in community art initiatives.   
• Institute of Contemporary Art ($20,000) for planning for a major group exhibition that explores the influence of late German artist Martin Kippenberger in art of the past two decades.   
• The Print Center ($18,397) for planning for an exhibition of public work utilizing the camera obscura by internationally known artists Ann Hamilton, Vera Lutter, and Abelardo Morell.   
• The Rosenbach Museum & Library ($20,000) for exploring the possibilities of transforming the traditional visitor experience of the historic house through artists' interventions and performances.   
• Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, The University of the Arts ($19,165) for planning for an exhibition expanding the narrow definition of Pop Art to include women artists of the period heretofore marginalized or overlooked.

Please note: Press Release, project descriptions, panel biographies and visual material are also on the PEI Web site at www.philexin.org. 

PEI grants are awarded on a competitive basis and are selected by a panel of visual arts professionals from around the country who have expertise in various aspects of the visual arts as well as a broad knowledge of the field. A distinguished eight-member panel reviewed this year's applications and included: Richard Armstrong, Director, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA who served as panel chair; Alan Chong, Curator of the Collection, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA; Mary Jane Jacob, Independent Curator, Chicago, Il; Silvia Karman Cubiñá, Director, The Moore Space, Miami, FL; Christine Kim, Assistant Curator, Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; Michael Monroe, Independent Curator, Reston, VA; Joseph Rosa, Curator of Architecture and Design, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, and Christina Yang, Curator of Visual Art and New Media, The Kitchen, NY. 

“This year's review process was, as always, highly competitive,” noted PEI Director Paula Marincola. “The high quality of the project proposals made the panel process extremely intensive, resulting in five exhibitions and five planning grants that not only successfully addressed PEI's goals and criteria, but also met the standards of best practice in the field. Our panelists commended PEI as a national model that is exemplary in its efforts to foster excellence in the visual arts community.” 

The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative was established by The Pew Charitable Trusts in June of 1997. Its primary goal is to stimulate artistic excellence in regional visual arts exhibitions. The PEI is one of The Pew Charitable Trusts' regional initiatives that have been implemented not only to augment the existing financial resources of the cultural community, but also to stimulate artistic leadership and challenge Philadelphia area institutions to reach their fullest artistic potential. Other programs are Dance Advance, the Pew Fellowships in the Arts, the Philadelphia Music Project, the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, Heritage Philadelphia Program, and The Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative. 

The Pew Charitable Trusts serves the public interest by providing information, policy solutions and support for civic life. Based in Philadelphia, with an office in Washington, DC, the Trusts makes investments to provide organizations and citizens with fact-based research and practical solutions on challenging issues. With approximately $4.1 billion in dedicated assets, in 2003 the Trusts committed more than $143 million to 151 nonprofit organizations. 

The University of the Arts is the nation's first and only university dedicated to the visual, performing and communication arts. Its 2,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on its campus in the heart of Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts. Its history as a leader in educating creative individuals spans more than 125 years.