KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER EXEC. DIR. JOSEPH HALL | IMAGE BY JOSH FRANZOS FOR KST

Local arts organizations impacted by the pandemic will receive between $20,000 and $1 million from the Heinz Endowments. The $5.75 million distributed across 37 organizations will help with COVID-19 relief, special projects and general operating costs.

A Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council analysis of the regional arts sector found that the most urgent pandemic-related need was unrestricted general operating assistance. The same report revealed that approximately 84% of organizations canceled performances, classes and exhibitions. Nearly 68% temporarily closed their facilities due to COVID-19.

In response, all of the grant money for 27 organizations is directed toward general operating expenses. 

“Our region’s vibrant arts sector has been impacted by the pandemic in ways that have brought it under extraordinary stress,” said Endowments President Grant Oliphant. “But for many, this has also inspired new and innovative ways of operating, connecting with art patrons, and presenting their art. This slate of grants recognizes both a critical need for operating support and the inventive ways in which arts organizations have faced these challenges.”

Grant recipients 

• ACH Clear Pathways: $100,000 
• Afro-American Music Institute: $50,000 
• Alumni Theater Company: $100,000
• August Wilson African American Cultural Center: $800,000
• Artists Image Resource: $40,000
• Bach Choir of Pittsburgh: $20,000
• Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation/BOOM Concepts: $75,000
• Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation/Level Up: $50,000 
• Bricolage Production Company: $50,000    
• Calliope House: $20,000
• Carnegie Institute/Arts Education Collaborative: $325,000
• Carnegie Mellon University: $38,000
• Chamber Music Pittsburgh: $20,000    
• Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh: $200,000
• City of Asylum: $60,000 
• City Theatre Company: $95,000 
• Community Theater Project Corporation/Kelly Strayhorn Theater: $270,000 
• Film Pittsburgh: $40,000
• Focus on Renewal Sto-Rox Neighborhood Renewal Corp.: $50,000
• The Hawkins Project: $50,000 
• Hill Dance Academy Theatre: $75,000
• Historical Society of Pittsburgh: $300,000
• The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh: $25,000
• Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre: $210,000 
• Pittsburgh Cultural Trust: $775,000
• Pittsburgh Entertainment Project: $50,000
• Pittsburgh Foundation/Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh: $1,000,000
• Pittsburgh Foundation/Spotlight PA: $100,000
• Pittsburgh Opera: $209,000
• Pittsburgh Youth Chorus: $30,000
• Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra Association: $20,000
• Prime Stage: $40,000 
• Public Source: $300,000
• River City Brass Band: $70,000
• SLB Radio Productions: $50,000 
• Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras: $20,000 
• Union Project: $30,000