PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 21, 2019)—The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage announced 39 grants today in support of the Philadelphia region’s cultural organizations and artists. The 2019 awards total more than $8.4 million and provide funding for 12 Pew Fellowships and 27 project grants.
This year’s grants include two new areas of support. In addition to the Center’s longstanding annual fellowships for Philadelphia-based artists, for the first time a Pew Fellows-in-Residence program will bring two artists from outside the region to live, work, and embed themselves in the community, becoming part of the city’s vibrant arts scene for a year. Additionally, the Center is funding its first organizational collaboration, a multifaceted musical project between two of the city’s major institutions: the Curtis Institute of Music and Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.
“Our annual grants foster the highest levels of artistic and programmatic excellence,” said Paula Marincola, the Center’s executive director. “The ambitious work these artists and institutions will produce in the coming months will inspire audiences and further elevate Philadelphia’s visibility as a thriving hub for culture.”
Following is a partial list of artists, projects, and organizations receiving awards. A full list of grantees is available at pewcenterarts.org/2019grants.
Pew Fellowships provide awards of $75,000 to individual artists from all disciplines. This year’s Fellows are artists working in visual art, literature, dance, and theater. Ten of the artists live and work in Philadelphia, and the two Fellows-in-Residence hail from Oakland, Calif., and New York City.
Among them are:
Project Grants for Public Events, Exhibitions, and Performances are awarded in amounts up to $400,000, with an additional 20 percent for general operating costs. The grants are designed to support exceptional cultural programs and experiences presented by Philadelphia-area organizations for a wide range of audiences. This year’s list includes:
A collaboration between the Curtis Institute of Music and Drexel University’s Westphal College that brings together local and international musicians from diverse traditions in a series of performances under the direction of British composer and conductor Peter Wiegold. The project culminates in a grand orchestral work for voice and instruments, performed by participating artists, a newly formed Curtis Intercultural Ensemble, and members of Wiegold’s own Third Orchestra.
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is a multidisciplinary grantmaker and hub for knowledge-sharing, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and dedicated to fostering a vibrant cultural community in Greater Philadelphia. The Center invests in ambitious, imaginative, and catalytic work that showcases the region’s cultural vitality and enhances public life, and it engages in an exchange of ideas concerning artistic and interpretive practice with a broad network of cultural practitioners and leaders. For more information, visit pewcenterarts.org.