Pittsburgh Foundation Arts and Culture Grants: Support for Careers and Lives of Individual Artists

Overview

Pittsburgh Foundation

Established in 1945, The Pittsburgh Foundation is one of the nation’s oldest community foundations and as of 2022 is the 18th largest of more than 750 similar foundations across the United States.

As a community foundation, its resources comprise endowment funds established by individuals, businesses and organizations with a passion for charitable giving and fulfilling the Foundation’s mission of improving quality of life for all in the region.

Foundation-Directed Grantmaking

The Pittsburgh Foundation is committed to helping the communities we serve become equitable and vibrant places where everyone can thrive. We align our grantmaking with resident’s dreams for themselves, their families and their communities and prioritize support in the five focus areas: Basic Needs; Equity and Social Justice; Environmental Action; Arts and Culture; and Economic Mobility.

Duration: Generally, grants will be awarded for no more than two years due to limited availability of funds.

Amounts: One-year grants generally range from $10,000 to $75,000. Two-year grants will generally not exceed $150,000. Actual grant amounts are determined based on staff review of each individual application and consideration of the funding available at the time the application is received.

Arts and Culture

The Pittsburgh Foundation believes in the transformational power of art and in the talent and strength of Pittsburgh-based artists and organizations. Funding aims to create opportunities for artists and organizations to practice their craft, pursue new ideas, produce thought-provoking work, celebrate the totality of the experience of the artist, and encourage cultural exchange through shared artistic experiences. We support endeavors to amplify voices, share narratives and provide more equitable funding throughout the art and culture landscape.

Arts and Culture Grants: Support for Careers and Lives of Individual Artists

Individual artists face barriers to accessing already limited resources to support their work. Furthermore, while art is generally valued, data shows that the artist is less so. The Pittsburgh Foundation’s individual artist grant-making criteria strives to recognize the artist as a whole person, and not as a commodity. Realizing that each artist comes to the Foundation with varied lived experiences, nuanced art forms and discrete needs, we celebrate the artist community writ large. By funding the artistic experiences of love, joy, pain, celebration, social inquiry and humanity, it is the Foundation’s hope that the Pittsburgh region will be exposed to the breadth of human experience and the unparalleled talent the region has to offer.

Individual artists applying through foundation-directed grantmaking must apply with a fiscal sponsor.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* To qualify for a grant, your nonprofit organization must be:
* Located within Allegheny County and/or primarily serve Allegheny County residents (unless otherwise specified in the grant criteria).
* Designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity. (If your organization does not have 501(c)(3) status, you may apply utilizing a fiscal sponsor.)

Ineligibility

* What We Do Not Fund
* The Pittsburgh Foundation does not make grants to any organization not listed in Internal Revenue Code Section 170(b)(1)(A), including private non-operating foundations or any “disqualified supporting organizations” as defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 4966(d) (4).
* Organizational start-up support.
* Statewide or national organizations, unless they have an established local office or chapter that meets the above eligibility criteria and priorities.
* Projects that expressly advocate for or endorse a specific candidate for elected office.
* Annual appeals or event sponsorships.
* Episodic and/or one-time programs and events.
* Capital expenses and/or campaigns.
* Direct funding for individuals (except individual artists).
* Payments on organizational debt.
* Costs and activities that are completed before a requested grant has received a decision from our board.
* University overhead costs.
* Single-disease support organizations.
* Educational scholarships. 
* Academic research.