Local artists, art organizations to receive grants of $170,000

Seven local artists, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and the Office of Public Art will receive $170,000 in grants this year from Investing in Professional Artists.

The program, which began in 2011, is funded by The Pittsburgh Foundation, Heinz Endowments and Opportunity Fund.

The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and the Office of Public Art each will receive $50,000 grants for special initiatives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The arts council will use the money for its Emergency Fund for Artists, which is providing relief grants of up to $500 to individual artists. At least 90% of the funds are given to artists of color. The Office of Public Art will pay for artist commissions and professional development for 20 Pittsburgh artists working to support their communities.

Three project cycles organized by the Office of Public Art will focus on groups most affected by the new coronavirus, including Blacks, Latinos, Asian Americans and members of the LGBTQIA community. The Office of Public Art will commission new works by artists from these communities whose art bridges physical separation and increases well-being.

Seven artists will each receive grants of $10,000 intended to advance their careers, encourage collaborations between artists

and organizations and increase the visibility of working artists. These artists received grants: writer Jari Bradley, visual artist Darnell Chambers, glass artisan Jaime Guerrero, dancer and choreographer Pearlann Porter, sculptor Lindsey Scherloum, film and video artist Mariah Torres and sculptor Rachel Mica Weiss. (See story starting on Page E-1 for details on their projects).

All submissions were reviewed by a panel of artists. The panelists for this cycle were:

Nisha Blackwell, the founder of Knotzland Bowties, a sustainable lifestyle brand that sources, rescues and repurposes discarded textiles into bowties.

Dominique Luster, the endowed Charles “Teenie” Harris archivist at Carnegie Museum of Art.

Wali Jamal, a veteran actor who has performed in Pittsburgh over the past 22 years and has had roles in all 11 plays by playwright August Wilson.

Mikael Chukwuma Owunna, a queer Nigerian-Swedish American photographer, Fulbright Scholar and engineer.

Orlando “Buscrates” Marshall, a music producer and DJ born and raised in Pittsburgh who draws significant influences from 1990s hip-hop and early-to-mid-1980s electronic funk.

Adriana Ramirez, a Mexican-Colombian literary artist with a national reputation for slam poetry and nonfiction writing.

Randal Miller, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s director of dance programming and special events.

Since 2011, 142 artists and organizations have received $2.1 million through the Investing in Professional Artists program. The Opportunity Fund is new to the partnership this year.

For more information or to apply for a grant from the Investing in Professional Artists program, go to pittsburgh foundation. org.

Lily LaRegina/Post-Gazette Mariah Torres, 27, of McKeesport, and her son Miliano McDaniel, 5, on Monday at Cut and Run Studios in Beechview. The filmmaker is producing a comedy series called “Rock Bottom” based on her experiences with homelessness while living in New York City.

Jari Bradley Writer Jari Bradley has received a $10,000 grant to develop a manuscript for “Unruly,” a full-length collection of poems that center on the unconventional Black queer body.

Darnell Chambers Visual artist Darnell Chambers received a $10,000 grant to organize an art show and work on an animation series.