Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
/OVERVIEW: The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage awards grants exclusively to organizations and individuals in the five-county Philadelphia area.
IP TAKE: Describing itself as a “multidisciplinary grantmaker and hub for knowledge-sharing,” the prestigious Pew Center for Arts & Heritage concentrates its work in the Greater Philadelphia area. This funder is not to be confused with the Pew Research Center, which is a subsidiary of the Pew Trusts. The Center, dedicated to “fostering a vibrant and diverse cultural ecology” invests in “ambitious” work that showcases the artistic fiber of the area in which it is located. This major ally of the arts in Philly, though limited to giving in that area, draws upon an “international” network of practitioners.
This accessible funder invites contact and provides transparent information about past grantees and areas of interest. Grant seekers should peruse the Center’s detailed “How to Apply” page for information about grant programs and eligibility.
PROFILE: Created in 2005, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by the University of the Arts, Philadelphia. The Center aims to support “ambitious, imaginative, and catalytic work that showcases the region’s cultural vitality and enhances public life” and to “engage in an ongoing exchange of ideas concerning artistic and interpretive practice with a broad network of cultural practitioners and leaders.”
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage views itself as a “hub for the exchange of ideas,” and aims to “advance the arts and heritage fields and connect Philadelphia to a global network of cultural practitioners.” This implies a prioritization of nonprofits and artists who pursue artistic work within a local context, yet with larger impact or ambitions in mind. The center is also sensitive to arts nonprofits of all types and sizes that have struggled in the post-COVID era. In 2024, the Center opened a new grants program, Evolving Futures, to support the long term “viability and sustainability” of arts and culture programs.
Important to the Pew Center is acknowledgement of the original stewards of the lands on which it is situated — in Lenapehoking, the unceded homelands of the Lenape people. The Center “recognizes and honors the original stewards of this land, and all past, present, and future Indigenous communities here for their ongoing resilience and the cultural lineage that continues to shape this region today.” Learn more about this funder’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.
Grants for Visual Arts, Music, Writing, Dance, Theater, Film
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage offers grantmaking for the arts and culture through a number of areas:
Project Grants invest in “organizations whose primary mission and defining purpose is the presentation of art and cultural heritage programs for public audiences.” Through its selection process, the center prioritizes applicants whose projects offer “meaningful experiences to Philadelphia’s many communities” and those that “reflect an organizational commitment to multiple perspectives and inclusive practices in program design, development, and impact.” Project Grants are comprised of two programs, Performance and Exhibitions & Public Interpretation.
Performance projects are “original works or new treatments of existing works in all performance forms” including live performances, virtual performances, film, video and participatory programs.
Recent performance grantees have included WPXN Radio’s Black Opry Residency, the Institute of Disabilities of Temple University’s Rhythm Bath program and the EgoPo Classic Theater’s production of Ramayana in FDR Park.
Exhibition & Public Interpretation projects include place-based or online exhibits or installations, including but not limited to visual art, historical materials and archives, scientific exhibitions, technology, film, video and architecture.
Examples of funded projects include the Institute of Contemporary Art exhibit of Carl Cheng’s Nature Never Loses and Mural Arts Philadelphia’s We Here, a program that combines outdoor installations with participatory community arts workshops.
Note that educational or curricular programs are not eligible for support, nor are proposals for “individual exhibitions of private collections, anniversary/celebratory exhibitions, [or] for acquiring artworks, collections, or property.”
Project grants range in amount from $75,000 to $300,000, but as many as three arts organizations “may pool their individual grants toward a collaborative effort, not to exceed $800,000 in total.”
Application for this opportunity begins with an LOI. The center invites full proposals, which are usually due in June of each year.
Evolving Futures grants are a new grants category introduced in 2024 in recognition of the longstanding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector, particularly “the many critical operational issues now facing the cultural sector.” According to Paula Marincola, the Center’s executive director, “these grants have been designed to resource organizational adaptations that are part of an informed strategic vision leading to long-term sustainability.”
This program supports organizations “that are willing and ready to adapt or evolve their structures and systems for greater viability. Evolving Futures projects should be part of a strategic vision designed to result in demonstrably greater viability and sustainability.” Application guidelines are linked to the program page.
Pew Fellowships are awarded each year to “12 exemplary artists working in the Philadelphia region” in amounts of $75,000 in unrestricted funding, along with customized professional development resources.
Artist grantees may work in any artistic discipline but must be nominated for the award by one or more of “a diverse group of Philadelphia-based cultural practitioners with deep knowledge of artistic practices in the region.”
Only residents of the five-county area of Philadelphia are eligible for the fellowship. Selection of fellows is made by experts in various disciplines.
See the center’s past grants page for examples of past fellows.
Important Grant Details:
The Pew Center has given a total of $173 million in grants to almost 2,000 recipients. It has also awarded almost 400 fellowships since its founding. Grants tend to be made in amounts of up to $300,000.
Grants are made annually through rigorous peer-review panels composed of a rotating group of distinguished, internationally recognized experts. These panelists come from outside the region and bring both general and specific areas of disciplinary expertise to the process.
Grantmaking is strictly limited to organizations and artists based in the five county area of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
See the center’s past grants page for examples of what has been funded recently.
While the Pew Fellowship program requires nomination from an area arts practitioner, Pew accepts LOIs for its project grants at any time.
Grantseekers can read further grant guidelines and application requirements here. Contact information for the center’s staff is provided on the website.
Learn more about grantmaking at the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through their FAQ section.
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