2015
UPDATE
10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY : Moving Forward
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STAFF & BOARD ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM ART ON THE WALLS FROM THE DIRECTORS MEMBER SPOTLIGHT ARTSBURGH
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STRATEGIC PLAN PROGRAMS & PEER NETWORKS BY THE NUMBERS ACCESSIBILITY WHAT IS ARTIST RELATIONS? STATE ADVOCACY PUBLIC ART AWARDS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
STAFF & BOARD Larry Castner Esq., Manager of Volunteer Services lcastner@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Joseph B. Smith, Chair Dollar Bank
Rebecca Fink, Office, Events & Membership Coordinator rfink@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Michael A. Wessell. Esq., Executive Vice Chair Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellot, LLC Kathleen Mulcahy, Vice Chair Founder, Pittsburgh Glass Center
Kate Hansen, Project Manager, Office of Public Art opa@pittsburghartscouncil.org Dek Ingraham, Technology Projects Specialist ringraham@pittsburghartscouncil.org anupama jain, Equity and Inclusion Consultant ajain@pittsburghartscouncil.org
janera solomon, Vice Chair Kelly Strayhorn Theater Veronica Morgan-Lee, Ph.D., Secretary Hill Dance Academy Theatre (HDAT) James Fawcett, Treasurer Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
Rachel Klipa, Manager of Community Engagement, Office of Public Art rklipa@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Mitch Swain, CEO Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
Sallyann Kluz, Associate Director, Office of Public Art skluz@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Deborah Acklin WQED Multimedia
Christiane Leach, Artist Relations Manager cleach@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Jonathan Berman Kextil
Kathy Mahoney, Bookkeeper
John Camillus Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
Sue Mencher, Director of Internal Systems smencher@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Jeffrey Carpenter Bricolage Production Company
Anne Mulgrave, Manager of Grants & Accessibility amulgrave@pittsburghartscouncil.org
John F. Cilli, Jr. Marketing Consultant
Maggie Negrete, Administrative Assistant mnegrete@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Tracy Edmunds Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Mariann Geyer Point Park University
Erin O’Neill, Coordinator, Art on the Walls eoneill@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Dan Gilman Pittsburgh City Council, District 8
David B. Pankratz, Research and Policy Director dpankratz@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Christopher Hahn Pittsburgh Opera
Renee Piechocki, Director, Office of Public Art publicart@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Sean Jones Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra
ONLINE RESOURCES
Jen Saffron, Director of Communications jsaffron@pittsburghartscouncil.org
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Tinsy Labrie VisitPITTSBURGH
Mitch Swain, CEO mswain@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Ryan Lammie Radiant Hall Studios
Tiffany Wilhelm, Deputy Director twilhelm@pittsburghartscouncil.org
Darcel Madkins PNC Financial Services
PittsburghArtsCouncil.org
Clayton Merrell College of Fine Art, Carnegie Mellon University Judith O’Toole Westmoreland Museum of Art
News, advocacy, membership, and more
PittsburghArtsCouncil.org/ABC
Maureen Rolla Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Audience Builder Co-op
PittsburghArtistRegistry.org
Eric Shiner The Andy Warhol Museum
Database of regional artists
Sandra Solomon Sandra Solomon and Associates
PittsburghArtPlaces.org Where art happens in our region
Artsburgh.org
Mark Clayton Southers Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company
Pittsburgh’s Arts & Culture Events Page
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
Shelly Sponholz Giant Eagle, Inc.
ANNUAL MEETING
Monday, November 16, 2015 August Wilson Center
PROGRAM
3:30 pm
Thanks to our sponsors !
Theater
OPENING PERFORMANCE Tracksploitation with Classical String Quartet, presented by Chamber Music Pittsburgh
WELCOME CAROL R. BROWN AWARDS 4:00 pm
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS STATE OF THE SECTOR STRATEGIC PLANNING UPCOMING INITIATIVES
5:00pm
SPEAKER: MAYOR BILL PEDUTO Mayor’s Award for Public Art
WORK OF ART AWARD CLOSING PERFORMANCE Bach Choir of Pittsburgh
5:30 pm Lobby
RECEPTION
WELCOME SPEAKER, MAYOR BILL PEDUTO Bill Peduto took office as Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh in 2014, after 19 years on Pittsburgh City Council as a staffer and member representing District 8. Mayor Peduto’s accomplishments include writing the most comprehensive package of government reform legislation in Pittsburgh’s history; strengthening the Ethics Code; creating the city’s first Campaign Finance Limits; establishing Lobbyist Disclosure; and ending No-Bid Contracts.
In addition to a commitment to fiscal discipline and leading the city into a new five year plan, Mayor Peduto genuinely loves the arts, showcasing works by local artists in the Mayor Peduto City County Building and recognizing the important role that arts and culture play in community revitalization, such as his direct involvement in the $2 billion redevelopment of the City’s East End.
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
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ART ON THE WALLS The Art on the Walls Program has sold $45,000 in visual art by local artists to date.
Left-hand Column: Creative Citizen Studios exhibit, January-June 2015. Artists, from top to bottom: Jami Johnson, Daija Massie, Mick Fisher Right-hand Column: Chimera exhibit, July-December 2015. Artists, from top to bottom: Kristine Synowka, Katie Krulock, Danielle Robinson All images are details of larger works.
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GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
FROM THE DIRECTORS When Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council began, just ten years ago, we were mostly a ticketing service that offered workshops and business and legal advice to the arts. The Office of Public Art was then a new partnership between GPAC and the City of Pittsburgh. Now, both Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and Office of Public Art have turned 10. A lot can happen in a decade, and indeed, it has. Today, our arts and culture community will take stock of the many accomplishments over ten years, from grants for artists to new cultural policy to the incredible public art that helps put Pittsburgh on the map as a cultural destination. Each of us in the room today participated in this growth in one way or another, helping our region’s arts and culture sector thrive – thank you. It’s our collective work that has the attention of our business and political partners, such as the bicameral, bipartisan Arts and Culture Caucus and the Creative Industries partnerships. We thank Mayor William Peduto for joining us, today, as an important example of the City’s support for the arts and look forward to hearing his remarks about the role of the arts in civic life.
We continue the work started three years ago to discuss and address the difficult issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. And, because of the efforts of many, Pittsburgh’s arts and culture community has a newly deserved reputation for being accessible for people with disabilities. As we celebrate ten years, we look forward to future successes and partnerships. Today, you will see a new events website to promote all of the region’s arts and culture programs and events, learn about a newly updated tool to support audience development, and hear how we can support local artists. So, after ten successful years, let’s eat our cake, and let’s celebrate what makes our community strong: our creativity, organizations, artists, the collective will for advocacy, and our willingness to work together. We especially want to thank all of you who participated in these sessions and gave of your time and energy. Today, we will also be awarding special guests, sharing the state-of-the-sector, and reporting on the many terrific ideas that came forward in our community visioning sessions on October 1st and 2nd.
Thank you for your support of GPAC, our arts and culture community, and being here with us today.
SINCERELY,
Joseph B. Smith Board Chair
Mitch Swain CEO
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT MATT CONBOY
Matt Conboy, photographer, professor and GPAC Member, founded Start with Art, a program to promote Pittsburgh artists by gifting original, signed photographs to newborn babies, creating a culture of art collecting that starts at birth. Conboy utilized GPAC’s various programs and grant streams, the Artist Opportunity Grant (2012), PA Partners in the Arts Project Stream (2015) and Accessibility Microfund (2015) to catalyze his personal photography career, to sustain Start with Art, and to expand the program to have visual descriptions for newborns without sight. In Matt’s words: I was awarded an AOG in 2012 to attend a weeklong photography workshop in Astoria, Oregon. As I’m preparing a new AOG application, I looked at my CV and couldn’t believe how many opportunities came about as a 100% direct result of attending that workshop. This grant gave me the confidence and assuredness that I could be a successful photographic artist. In fact, every exhibit that I’ve had in 2014 and 2015 came about because of the lessons learned while at that workshop. Thank you so much for helping to provide this opportunity for artists in Pittsburgh!
the artist, Matt Conboy
GPAC provides the support and ethical grantmaking to help our region’s artists and art organizations succeed. We take the time to craft personal relationships and provide expert technical assistance to those seeking to elevate and support their art. Like Conboy, we can help you navigate different grant streams and find the resources you need to initiate and promote your creative ideas. For more information on Grants, contact Anne Mulgrave at amulgrave@pittsburghartscouncil.org.
Over the past decade, GPAC membership has risen from 75 to 320 members, including arts organizations and individual artists like Matt Conboy. Member benefits include participation in Arts Day of Giving, discounts on supplies and professional development workshops, and access to the Audience Builder Co-op database. For more information on Membership, contact Rebecca Fink at rfink@pittsburghartscouncil.org.
Artist Opportunity Grants: Incredible Demand
2011-12
107 received 32 funded
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2012-13
87 received 35 funded
detail of Likeness by Stephanie Armbruster Start with Art, March 2015
=10 applications
2013-14
136 received 43 funded
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
= funded applications
2014-15
156 received 30 funded
ARTSBURGH Official Launch November 2015
Pittsburgh is Artsburgh! For years, people have been telling us that there’s no one-stop-shop calendar for arts and culture. No more! Announcing: ARTSBURGH: www.artsburgh.org, launching TODAY. This multimedia website presents a flexible structure for you to promote exhibitions, performances, screenings, events, workshops, programs of all kinds - this robust site will become the go-to for culture in no time, and we’re psyched to provide this, free of cost, to you! Artsburgh will feed out to other online outlets in the region, plus has filters for accessibility, genre and experience so that you can maximize your audience potential. Visit www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/artsburgh to find training videos and more information.
STRATEGIC PLAN 2015 marks the start of a new Strategic Planning process that will guide GPAC for the next three years. GPAC hopes to preserve and expand upon our current objectives to serve arts and culture organizations and artists while striving to be a model organization. Since August, GPAC has hosted visioning sessions with our board, staff, and the community at large to identify our collective goals and direction as an arts community. Focusing on the larger ecosystem, GPAC will strategize how and where to implement existing services as well as consider new initiatives. Consultant, Yael Silk of Silk Strategic Arts designed a series of fact-finding and idea sharing events and will coalesce the information into our new plan. Thank you to all who attended one of the Imagining Our Future events held at the Senator John Heinz History Center on October 1st and 2nd. Your feedback and passion are at the core of our work and the success of our region. community sharing at Imagining Our Future, October 1st
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
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PROGRAMS & PEER N Emerging Arts Leaders 12 Members
BVA
42 Projects 375 Volunteer Hours
PUBLIC ART VLA/BVA
VLA
101 Projects 750 Volunteer Hours
ARTIST RELATIONS Artist Advisory Committee 154 Members
CREATORS MAKERS TEACHERS
240 Attendees 7 Events
ADVOCACY
Legislative Arts & Culture Caucus 75 Members
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GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
NETWORKS 60 Members
Development Peers 519 Attendees 22 Events since inception
GRANTS ACCESSIBILITY
Access Peers
70 Members
EQUITY Coalition for Racial Equity 150 Members
AUDIENCE BUILDING RESEARCH
AUDIENCE BUILDER CO-OP
Arts Research Committee 25 Members
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
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BY THE NUMBERS The Creative Industries,including Arts and Culture, are important economic drivers in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Our Sector is Growing & Gaining Visibility
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GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
ACCESSIBILITY DATA COLLECTION GPAC and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust have partnered to create the Arts Access Data Project to collect and report on how the disability community is engaging with regional arts and culture organizations. Over the last four to five years, services and accommodations for people with disabilities have increased significantly, especially in Pittsburgh. Now we want to understand what’s working.
“Thank you so much for offering [Accessibility] workshops... It is so valuable to have this information for an affordable cost.”
Organizations are beginning to report on measures of engagement such as number of people who attended sensory-friendly arts events, number of requests for ASL interpreted performances, number of people who used large-print or braille programs, and number of museum tours offered for people with dementia.
These data points will be used to create a regional picture of accessibility and engagement in the arts. This pilot project hasn’t, to our knowledge, been attempted anywhere else. Colleagues working on accessibility around the country are already interested in learning about how this process works for Pittsburgh so that it can be implemented in other regions. With continuing support from the FISA Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Pittsburgh has become a national model, demonstrating how different kinds of arts organizations can foster a community-wide collaboration that effectively connects people with disabilities to the arts. For more information, see pittsburghartscouncil.org/accessibility.
Claire Senita presenting on Accessible Websites
Inaugural Year of the Access Micro Fund
We reimburse the expenses of ASL interpretation, captioning services, deaf/blind interpretation and other accommodations for patrons or artists with disabilities.
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
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WHAT IS ARTIST RELATIONS? Artists are everywhere. We teach your children, we redevelop real estate, we vote, we design and build things you see every day, we promote new ways of thinking and living – we do a whole lot of things, and we’re a part of your neighborhoods. Artists are the foundation of the greater creative community, which is why GPAC offers workshops, technical assistance, grants, resources, and one-on-one consulting for artists. Taking it up a notch, this year we invited noted author and organizer Andrew Simonet, a choreographer based in Philadelphia, to join us at Neu Kirche Contemporary Art Center to lead Let’s Change it Up, a day-long retreat designed to empower artists. Topics included debunking myths about artists’ lifestyles, developing practical approaches to marketing artists’ skills, ensuring affordable real estate, equity, advocacy for artists, leadership, and making a living. As the founder of Artist U, Andrew has been facilitating professional development for artists across the U.S. Mr. Simonet shares, “For the past ten years, I’ve been looking at how artists thrive (and suffer) in America. I started Artists U, a grassroots, artist-run, free program for building sustainable artist lives. Let’s build conversations based on our skills, not our needs. And let’s use those conversations to change our communities and our world.”
Left to right: Lee Parker, Tiffany Wilhelm, Andrew Simonet and Christiane Leach at Neu Kirche Contemporary Art Center.
Pittsburgh will be joining Philadelphia, Baltimore and South Carolina as the next Artist U community! Following on the heels of this success, GPAC was also selected to develop online tool kits for artists through Springboard for the Arts, the national arts nonprofit based in Minneapolis. Finally, as we move into 2016, GPAC will launch a website dedicated to organizing opportunities and resources for working artists. What’s our goal? To directly respond to feedback from artists and ensure a community where artists can truly thrive! For more information, please contact Christiane Leach at cleach@pittsburghartscouncil.org.
Southwestern Pennsylvania is Where Artists Live and Create
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GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
STATE ADVOCACY: ELIZABETH, PA’s CULTURAL DISTRICT This summer, GPAC’s Research and Policy Director, David Pankratz, traveled to the home office of State Representative Rick Saccone in Jefferson Hills, Allegheny County. Accompanying him was Lori Koldziej of Mon River Arts and organizer of Elizabeth’s Sounds of Summer on Plum Street. After their legislative visit, Koldziej invited Rep. Saccone and Pankratz to hear a swing band perform on Plum Street as part of the summer series. The three enjoyed the event and discussed how Elizabeth is crafting a central Cultural District as part of their revitilization efforts. Seeing these benefits, Rep. Saccone was encouraged to support State Representative Scott Petri’s House Bill 1490 to advance Cultural Improvement Districts in PA. Expanding the Neighborhood Improvement District Legislation, this bill allows communities to designate an area as a cultural district in order to maintain, improve and promote their community’s cultural significance.
Top: Regis R. Malady Bridge. Bottom left to right: Crowd at a Sounds of Summer on Plum Street, State Rep. Rick Saccone.
National Arts Advocacy Day
March 2016
PA Arts Advocacy Day
May 2016
Evidence of the effectiveness of Cultural Districts as agents of change can be seen in Downtown Pittsburgh and the efforts of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The Penn and Liberty corridor continues its renaissance from a blighted, red-light district into the epicenter of major theaters, art galleries and restaurants in Pittsburgh. The metamorphosis since the 1980s has become a national model, prompting a 2013 Americans for the Arts Preconference on Cultural Districts held here, in Pittsburgh. The Arts drives economic development by creating experiences for patrons to pursue. By supporting rural arts intiatives like those in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania can preserve communities’ culture and main street commerce.
Pennsylvania Ranks 21st in Per Capita Funding to State Arts Agencies
Source: State Arts Agency Legislative Appropriations Preview, Fiscal Year 2016 Pennsylvania was operating under a temporary budget at time of publication
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
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PUBLIC ART
10 YEARS
Thank you, everyone who has collaborated with the Office of Public Art (OPA) to develop educational programs and public art projects. Here’s to another 10 years of developing creative ways to engage artists in our region! Below are some of OPA’s recent initiatives.
MARKET SQUARE • In 2014, Congregation was among 31 works recognized by the prestigious Public Art Network Year in Review program. • In 2015, Jennifer Wen Ma’s A Winter Landscape Cradling Bits of Sparkle engaged over 10,000 people.
ART IN THE AIRPORT • The Pittsburgh International Airport has expanded its art collection through the addition of new work by Clayton Merrell, The Sky Beneath Our Feet. • In 2015, the airport established a performing arts program to enliven the travel experience.
Welcoming Pittsburgh COLLABORATION • Together, the offices seek to expand programming about public art to immigrant communities. • OPA hosted its first bilingual walking tour in English and Nepali in September. Nearly 40 members from the area’s Bhutanese and Nepali communities attended.
HAZELWOOD RESIDENCY • Edith Abeyta is in her second year of the Artist in the Public Realm Residency in collaboration with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. • Abeyta has successfully entered the second phase of this project by initiating the Arts Excursions Unlimited program for Hazelwood residents. From top to bottom: Jennifer Wen Ma’s A Winter Landscape Cradling Bits of Sparkle; Clayton Merrell’s The Sky Beneath Our Feet; Downtown Public Art Tour in English and Nepali, Hazelwood Billboard.
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GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
AWARDS & ANNOUNCEMENTS MAYOR’S AWARD FOR PUBLIC ART
The Mayor’s Award for Public Art was established in 2007 to recognize excellence in public art, and the role public art plays in the economic, social, and aesthetic well-being of a community. The Mayor of Pittsburgh chooses the winner from nominees gathered by a public call organized with the Office of Public Art. This year’s winner is the Homewood Artist Residency, an artist-driven catalyst for change in collaboration with the people of Homewood. HAR celebrates AfricanAmerican art and culture in the neighborhood and enhances quality of life by forging relationships with the regional and international art community.
WORK OF ART AWARD Awardee, David Donahoe has over 45 years of experience in the public and nonprofit sectors in the areas of administration, finance and communications, and is now a private consultant. David has held various positions in county government, served the City of Pittsburgh in several roles including City Treasurer, and in 1986, was appointed Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue. David was the first executive director of the Allegheny Regional Asset District, where for 20 years he administered $1.5 billion in grants.
David Donahoe at the National Aviary
GPAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
We extend a warm welcome to our new board members (left to right):
Tracy Edmunds, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; Christopher Hahn, Pittsburgh Opera; Clayton Merrell, Carnegie Mellon University; and Sandra Solomon, Sandra Solomon Associates, Inc.
GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL • UPDATE 2015
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The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council acknowledges the important support that we receive from our foundation, corporate, and government partners. To discuss ways to support the work of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council through sponsorships or partnerships, please contact Tiffany Wilhelm, Deputy Director, at 412.391.2060 x222 or twilhelm@pittsburghartscouncil.org.
We have a 75-year
legacy of supporting the arts.
Looking to the future, let’s celebrate how art
can keep us healthy.
Allegheny Regional Asset District Dollar Bank EQT Foundation The Fine Foundation FISA Foundation Giant Eagle, Inc. The Grable Foundation The Heinz Endowments Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Laurel Foundation National Endowment for the Arts Pennsylvania Council on the Arts The Pittsburgh Foundation Walter and Merriam Modell Memorial Fund Fund for Individual Artists Dollar Bank Ad.qxp_Layout 1 10/28/15 11:11 AM Page 1
C
ongratulations to GPAC on your 10th anniversary.
The Charitable Arm of Dollar Bank
1.800.242.BANK (2265) Equal Housing Lender. Member FDIC. Copyright © 2015, Dollar Bank. Federal Savings Bank.
At Highmark, we understand that art can heal. Creating or experiencing it can relax and soothe. It can enliven and inspire. That’s why we’re a longstanding supporter of arts organizations in our communities. And why we nurture the arts at an early age through childhood arts education programs. Let’s be open to more artistic experiences. Let’s be healthy.
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