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.

Opportunity Fund is pleased to participate as a co-organizer of the Arts | Equity | Reimagined Fund. Details, including eligibility requirements, deadlines, FAQs, the application process and guiding principles can be found at www.artsreimagined.org or by calling (412) 219-6584.

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?

• We committed to a higher total grant payout in 2020 than ever before. 
  • As of April 30, 2020, we’ve mailed $658,200 in grant checks (vs $93,500 at this time, 2019.)
• We committed to granting roughly $500,000 to support COVID-19 response, outside of our two normal grant cycles, and sourcing a significant portion of those funds from our endowment.
  • We created a $500,000 COVID-19 Response Fund, of which 40% was sourced from our endowment. As of April 30th, 2020, we have awarded $463,200 from this fund. Click here to see a current list of recipients.
  • The fund prioritizes providing (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.
  • We applied a lens of racial justice to our decisions. To date, 43% of COVID-19 Response funds went to Black-led organizations, 35% to white-led organizations, and 23% went to organizations with Latino or multi-racial team leadership.
  • We will distribute the remaining funds during this calendar year. We are not accepting applications or solicitations for these funds.
• We committed to continuing our two normal grant cycles, with a slightly reduced budget.
  • We are continuing our two normal grant cycles. We made the tough decision to reduce our overall grant cycle budget by 20% — and are confident that our community panels, advisors, and board will help us to make strong grant decisions.
  • Already, we have awarded $115,000 as part of our regular grant cycles. Grantees will be officially announced later in the year.
• We committed to loosening restrictions for active and future grantees. 
  • We offered current applicants—all of whom submitted their proposals pre-COVID-19—the opportunity to easily make significant changes to their requests before our panels and board reviewed them.
  • We offered current grantees the opportunity to extend timelines, convert project-based grants into general operating grants, submit oral reports instead of written reports, and accept multi-year grant installments earlier than planned.
  • We anticipate that future grantees will enjoy some of these innovations – and more.
• We committed to listen to you. To read your emails. To reach out to ask how you are, what you’re doing, what you see, what you need.
  • This is the best part of our job. We work toward this goal every day. We treasure our relationships, and thank you for helping us to become more strategic at this time.
  • More, we thank you for the work so many of you are doing now. It is life-saving and life-giving.

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.

A complete list of awarded grants to-date from the COVID-19 Response Fund can be found below, and additional context regarding the Opportunity Fund’s process can be found here. Additional support was possible through a generous gift by the Laura and Jason Rock Family Foundation. The Opportunity Fund is not accepting applications or solicitations for this fund.

1Hood Media ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

1Hood Media ($15,000) to support PGH Mutual Aid’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund.

412 Food Rescue ($15,000) to support general operations and emergency response during the COVID-19 crisis.

Abolitionist Law Center ($10,000) to hire a part-time attorney will gather information from the Allegheny County Jail (ACJ), solicit information from clients, meet with County officials, and work on advocacy related to the ACJ with community organizations; and to expand use of IT services.

Alliance for Global Justice ($25,700) to expand the Bukit Bail Fund to help bail out people from Allegheny County Jail (ACJ), provide cash cards to inmates exiting ACJ with community partner Jailbreak, and to provide stipends to volunteers.

Alumni Theater Company ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Balafon West African Dance Ensemble ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

barebones productions ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Bricolage Production Company ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Casa San Jose ($15,000) to support Casa San Jose’s Relief Fund in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Center of Life ($15,000) to support emergency response work by the Greater Hazelwood Community Collaborative. Funds may support transportation, an emergency fund, volunteer compensation, computers, Internet access, and/or gift cards during the COVID-19 crisis.

Chamber Music Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Circles Greater Pittsburgh ($10,000) to provide flexible funds for The Wellness Collective to build capacity, pay organizers, distribute resources, and do any of the group’s other tax-exempt work as it responds to COVID-19 crisis.

City of Asylum Pittsburgh ($15,000) to support general operations and “The Show Must Go On(line)” during the COVID-19 crisis.

City Theatre Company ($15,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Contemporary Craft ($15,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

CORNINGWORKS ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Daisy Wilson Artist Community, Inc. ($10,000) to support general operations of the August Wilson House during the COVID-19 crisis.

Dreams of Hope ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank ($15,000) to support general operations and emergency response during the COVID-19 crisis.

Healthy Start Inc., Pittsburgh ($5,000) to support general operations and virtual doula services during the COVID-19 crisis.

Hill Dance Academy Theatre ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Hill District Consensus Group ($4,600) for the COVID Help Desk Workflow and Resource Navigation.

Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support Federation’s COVID-19 Response Fund to provide direct support during the COVID-19 crisis.

Kelly Strayhorn Theater ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Kente Arts Alliance ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Latino Community Center ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Legacy Arts Project ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild ($10,000) to support MCG Jazz in the creation of a Jazz Musician Project, a concert series curated by Pittsburgh-based jazz artists that pays artists higher-than-usual fees for gigs.

Neighborhood Allies ($7,500) to support general operations of Steel Smiling and its cohort of Beams to Bridges community members as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis. This grant is made possible through a generous gift by the Laura and Jason Rock Family Foundation.

New Hazlett Center for the Performing Arts ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

New Horizon Theater ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

New Sun Rising ($10,000) to support general operations of PearlArts Studios during the COVID-19 crisis.

New Voices for Reproductive Justice ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Off the Wall Productions ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Pittsburgh Community Services, Inc. ($10,000) to support general operations of Feed the Hood during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Pittsburgh Foundation ($10,000) to support the Pittsburgh Foundation Emergency Action Fund.

Pittsburgh Glass Center ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis and/or a matching grant to support the Artists’ Assistance Fund.

POISE Foundation ($5,000) to support the Critical Community Needs Fund during the COVID-19 crisis.

POISE Foundation ($10,000) to support general operations of Alliance for Police Accountability during the COVID-19 crisis.

POORLAW ($5,000) to support the COVID-19 Social Survival Support Initiative during the COVID-19 crisis.

Prevention Point Pittsburgh ($5,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Serenity Living Transitional Home ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

sisTers PGH ($15,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis. Grant may also may support the Pittsburgh COVID-19 LGBTQIA Emergency Relief Fund.

Take Action Mon Valley  ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Touchstone Center for Crafts ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Ujamaa Collective ($5,000) to support the #HillMasksOn Initiative which organizes seamstresses to sew reusable cloth face masks that will be distributed for free to those in need in the Hill District neighborhood.

Union Project ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

United Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support general operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines ($10,000) to support work to ensure that any vaccines that are developed are affordable and accessible to all people.

Zellous Hope Project ($10,000) to help establish the Emergency Stabilization Hope Fund to help individuals and small businesses who are not eligible for many loans or grants and/or who have trouble accessing them.

###

COVID-19 is already affecting all of our lives, some more profoundly than others.  This is a time for foundations to listen, to remove barriers, to increase support, and to act quickly.

Along with hundreds of other funders across the nation, we have made our general commitments public. But more specifically, the Opportunity Fund is accountable to you. While we are still actively determining much of our COVID-19 strategy, we want to share with you some of the preliminary commitments we are making:

• We commit to a higher total payout in 2020 than ever before.
• We commit to granting roughly $500,000 to support COVID-19 response, outside of our two normal grant cycles, and sourcing a significant portion of those funds from our endowment.
  • We have not yet determined how or to whom we will distribute these funds. We are not currently accepting applications or solicitations for these funds.
• We commit to continuing our two normal grant cycles, with a slightly reduced budget in 2020.
• We commit to loosening restrictions for active and future grantees. We’ll also provide more flexible options, including conversations, for grant reports during this time.
• We commit to listening to you. To reading your emails. To reaching out to ask advice.

Finally, less formally but wholeheartedly, we commit to walking the tightrope between being responsive to the urgency we are all experiencing in the moment, and to remaining nimble and flexible over the duration of this crisis. There are lots of ways we can support each other, including but certainly extending beyond us granting money.

In solidarity,

Jake, Tiffany and Idy

The work you do is vital. It is life-saving, life-giving, visionary. We are proud to be actively supporting a portion of the work you currently do.

Please know that we unequivocally support and encourage any precautionary measures you may take–or have been required to take–to guard against COVID-19 that results in the postponement, alteration or cancellation of any aspect of the grant we awarded your organization. We simply ask that you inform us about it as soon as you can.