Arts | Opportunity Fund

OPPORTUNITY FUND PROVIDES $1,478,750 IN GRANTS TO THE ARTS AND SOCIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

By Tiffany Wilhelm
December 13, 2021
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

CONTACT: Jake Goodman, Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org

PITTSBURGH, PA, December 13, 2021 — The Opportunity Fund announces support totaling $1,478,750, the largest cycle ever in its seventh year of grantmaking. The Board of Directors, along with two community panels, funded 81 out of 142 requests that were seeking a total of $2,516,525. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

Including this current grant cycle, the foundation has awarded 752 grants totaling over $10.3 million since its inception in 2015. Grant cycles take place twice a year. Letter of Inquiry deadlines are January 15 and July 15 each year. Full information about applying for grants is available in the “For Applicants” area of our website.

To Advance Racial Justice, a Foundation Tries Leaving the Room

By opportunity-fund
December 7, 2021
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

CONTACT: Jake Goodman, Executive Director, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org

PITTSBURGH, PA, December 7, 2021 – For some, the uprisings for racial justice in the summer of 2020 came and went. But for the Opportunity Fund and its Executive Director, Jake Goodman, the energy of that time offered “a precious moment of potential.” This moment “revealed the anti-Blackness that is baked into American life, which results in an ever-evolving and systematic devaluation of Black life that is designed to protect and grow the standing of white people. Once exposed, it is vulnerable.”

A subsequent evolution occurred within the Opportunity Fund, beginning with a recognition that, every grant cycle, proposals flow in to address problems existing within systems: housing, transportation, human services, criminal justice, social services. The vast majority of applicants report that these systems create the very worst outcomes for Black people. “If we truly do not accept the current status quo of many Black people living and dying under worse conditions than almost everybody else,” says Goodman, “then we need to change the way we generally go about business at the Opportunity Fund. Otherwise, we are tacitly accepting that status quo.”

ARTS | EQUITY | REIMAGINED FUND LAUNCHED

The Covid-19 Arts Working Group (CAWG), a collaboration of 15 foundations and a private donor in the Pittsburgh metro area, announces the Arts | Equity | Reimagined Fund, in response to the unprecedented and ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the region’s arts and cultural sector. The fund is intended to foster collective action and identify creative solutions to operating challenges as nonprofit arts organizations navigate these uncertain times. While the fund is open to all arts and cultural organizations, in recognition of long-standing disparities in funding, it will prioritize small to medium-sized arts organizations and those that serve or are led by historically marginalized communities in southwestern Pennsylvania, whether they be urban or rural in location.

Investing in Professional Artists announces $170,000 in grants

PITTSBURGH, PA, JUNE 24, 2020 – Investing in Professional Artists, a joint grant-making program of The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Heinz Endowments and the Opportunity Fund, has awarded $170,000 to individual artists and art programs for the initiative’s 2020 cycle.

By opportunity-fund
June 18, 2020
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

To Our Community,

The thing about a moment is that it comes and goes. We have seen moments when the hope of racial justice seemed within reach and, every time, we have seen them go.

We are now in a precious moment of potential. The racism, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness that is baked and caked in/onto American life—and that results in an ever-evolving but systemic devaluation of Black life, meant to protect and grow the standing of white people—is, for growing masses of us, exposed. And vulnerable.

Honoring Our Commitments to You

By opportunity-fund
April 30, 2020
Arts,COVID-19,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

To Our Community,

Just as we were beginning to get a sense of how profoundly COVID-19 would disrupt our lives, we wrote to you. We said, “This is a time for foundations to listen, to remove barriers, to increase support, and to act quickly.” We said we were accountable to you. We made commitments to you.

A month has passed. What have we done to honor our commitments?

2020 COVID-19 RESPONSE GRANTS

By opportunity-fund
April 30, 2020
Arts,COVID-19,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

CONTACT: Jake Goodman, Executive Director, 412-362-1300, jgoodman [at] theopportunityfund.org

PITTSBURGH, PA; APRIL 30, 2020 — The Opportunity Fund announces support totaling $515,300 to-date as part of its strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, the Opportunity Fund signed a national pledge, publicized its commitments, and created a $500,000 COVID-19 Response Fund to provide (1) general operating support for small and mid-sized arts organizations and (2) flexible funds for grassroots entities organizing toward social/economic justice and emergency response.

“This is a time for foundations to step deeper into our roles as community partners by removing barriers, increasing support, and acting quickly,” said Jake Goodman, Executive Director of the Opportunity Fund.

OPPORTUNITY FUND PARTNERS TO SUPPORT INVESTING IN PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS

By Tiffany Wilhelm
December 23, 2019
Arts,Opportunity Fund

Sponsored by The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Opportunity Fund, the Investing in Professional Artists: The Pittsburgh Region Artists Program (IPA) is guided by a shared belief in artistic excellence, creative development, and the need for continuous career advancement. Professional artists’ self-directed pursuit of new ideas, opportunities, and skills are essential to the region’s cultural vitality. This program provides resources to professional artists for the breadth of the creative process, from concept to completion. While the program does not require presentation of a fully realized work, it challenges artists to seek to produce the artworks that will define our times, our region and our lives.

Get to Know the Opportunity Fund Meetings in January

By Tiffany Wilhelm
December 14, 2017
Arts,Opportunity Fund,Social and Economic Justice

Monday, January 8 at 9:30 am

Tuesday, January 23 at 6:30 pm

LOCATION

Repair the World Workshop
6022 Broad Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

RSVP Here

EVENT DESCRIPTION

The Opportunity Fund awards grants to organizations and initiatives that advance the arts, and social and economic justice. Letters of inquiry for the Spring 2018 cycle are due on February 1, 2018. In advance of that deadline, join us to meet the folks at the Opportunity Fund, learn about our focus areas (see more below) and process, hear insights about how to prepare a strong application, and ask any questions you have. The same information will be shared at both events.

Blog : Arts