Founded in 2017, Protohaven engages a diverse community of makers by providing the space, tools, and education necessary to enable our community of learners various stages of creative aspiration. A community makerspace and workshop, and design and fabrication school, Protohaven seeks to create a safe and supportive environment for learning, creating, and community-building. Protohaven engages people in the process of making things to enrich individual lives, build thriving communities, and contribute to a vibrant, sustainable society.
Pittsburgh Public Media (PPM) owns and operates radio stations WZUM AM and FM in Pittsburgh and Braddock, PA and Bethany, WV and an online service via www.wzum.org. WZUM, also known as “the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel”, works with performers, educators, institutions and music lovers throughout the region to help build and sustain a community that supports and embraces this great American and Pittsburgh treasure of jazz.
MAYA Organization exists to educate, empower, and advocate for birthing people and individuals touched by the criminal justice system through perinatal support services and counseling for previously incarcerated individuals. They are also a participant in several initiatives working for birth equity in the Pittsburgh area.
The Nafasi on Centre Artists-in-Residence program is hosted by the Hill Community Development Corporation in collaboration with #ArtsinHD. Nafasi on Centre programming addresses the challenges of making a living through art and the lack of community and affordable studio space. Nafasi incubates artists with shared working space and services tailored to their needs.
BOOM Concepts (fiscally sponsored by Bloomfield Garfield Corporation) continues to lead the way in supporting AALANA (African American, Latino, Asian, native American) and queer artists that identify as social practitioners and creative entrepreneurs operating outside of the western canon. BOOM Concepts supports artists around building creative experiences that will help to advance their personal practice. We recruit artists to focus these actions and curate a 12 month calendar using Penn Avenue’s UNBLURRED Gallery Crawl (first Friday’s of every month) as an anchor. By coordinating field building opportunities for artists that include teaching, atelier, public art displays, exhibitions, residencies, and creative gig work – BOOM is able to orchestrate impactful and memorable projects that engage audiences in the community.
Since 2020, RentHelpPGH (fiscally sponsored by ACTION-Housing) has served more than 3,000 Allegheny County residents at risk of or actively experiencing evictions through a Help Desk, Court Resource Navigation, and Mediation Resource Navigation programs. RentHelpPGH provides direct outreach to individuals at all stages of the formal eviction hearing process in order to connect individuals with rental, utility, and legal assistance that can keep families in their homes. They collaborate closely with legal aid providers, eviction diversion programs, local government agencies, and housing agencies to develop programs that effectively serve tenants and prevent evictions.
Sankofa Village for the Arts delivers culturally responsive, African-centered programs and services to children and youth, parents and families, and community members, including professional groups, arts organizations, and practitioners in the creative and performing arts. Focusing on African and African American contributions, history, and culture, SVA has experienced much success in its outreach to Pittsburgh’s African and African American communities.
Gallery Closed, fiscally sponsored by New Sun Rising, is a public-facing experimental exhibition space run by artists Phillip Andrew Lewis and Lenka Clayton. It is a narrow white cube gallery, with a sign, didactic text, bespoke website, social media following, and two street-facing windows. All exhibited work is designed to only be viewed through these two windows, the door always remains closed. Paradoxically this closed space creates an extremely accessible art venue. At night the gallery is brightly lit, so that Gallery Closed is always “open”, with artwork visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is designed for any and all audiences and specifically embraces its accidental audience of neighborhood passers-by.
McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation acts as fiscal sponsor to support The BlackteaBrownsuga Network. The BlackteaBrownsuga Network educates, inspires, and equips youth, artists, and community-serving individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve success through music, media, and mental health focused programs in McKees Rocks/Stowe and Western Pennsylvania.
TQ Live! presents a queer evening of dazzling performance, dance, poetry, comedy, resplendent fantasies, music, and more. The annual event is geared towards community building and sustaining, with a positive, party-like atmosphere that celebrates local LGBTQIA talent and community members. They help make Pittsburgh a more inclusive and interesting place to live by offering a respected annual showcase of the performers and the many intersecting LGBTQIA communities within the region. Every year they work to bring a variety of young, emerging and established artists to Pittsburgh to share the stage and celebrate and foster the diversity of performers that this city and region has to offer.
