Pew Center for Arts and Heritage

Get our monthly newsletter in your inbox for the latest on cultural events, ideas, conversations, and grantmaking news in Philadelphia and beyond.

Main page contents

Introducing Our 2022 Grantees


Pew Fellow Odili Donald Odita, Walls of Change, 2021, acrylic-latex wall paint on wall, 128', commissioned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art for New Grit: Art & Philly Now.  Photo by Timothy Tiebout, courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Odili Donald Odita, and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Pew Fellow Odili Donald Odita, Walls of Change, 2021, acrylic-latex wall paint on wall, 128', commissioned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art for New Grit: Art & Philly Now.  Photo by Timothy Tiebout, courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Odili Donald Odita, and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Philadelphia’s arts community remains deeply committed to serving diverse audiences. As our newest grants attest, the field continues to offer resonant cultural experiences that enliven and enrich our region and represent multiple perspectives, personal stories, and historical narratives. We are delighted to provide annual support for artists and organizations as they play a vital and necessary role in civic life.

Below, learn more about the 2022 grantees' programs, events, and artistic practices.

$9,502,366

Awarded through 42 grants

30

Project Grants

12

Pew Fellowships in the Arts

Project Grants

Project Grants

This year's project grants for public events, exhibitions, and performances are awarded in amounts up to $300,000, plus an additional 20% in general operating support, bringing the maximum grant to $360,000. In total, $7.2 million in project funding, plus $1.4 million in unrestricted general funds, provide support for 30 organizations.

Pew Fellow Roberto Lugo, The Talented Mr. Trotter: You Can Be Anything, 2022, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Steve Weinik, © City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Roberto Lugo. Lugo is the lead artist on Mural Arts' We Here.
Pew Fellow Roberto Lugo, The Talented Mr. Trotter: You Can Be Anything, 2022, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA. Photo by Steve Weinik, © City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Roberto Lugo. Lugo is the lead artist on Mural Arts' We Here.
Carl Cheng/John Doe Co., Erosion Machine No. 4, 1969; plexiglass, metal racks and fittings, plastic, water pump, LED lights, black light, pebbles, erosion rocks, wood base; 15" x 25" x 9". Photo by Jeff McClane, courtesy of Carl Cheng and Philip Martin Galllery. The Institute of Contemporary Art presents an exhibition of Cheng's work.
Carl Cheng/John Doe Co., Erosion Machine No. 4, 1969; plexiglass, metal racks and fittings, plastic, water pump, LED lights, black light, pebbles, erosion rocks, wood base; 15" x 25" x 9". Photo by Jeff McClane, courtesy of Carl Cheng and Philip Martin Galllery. The Institute of Contemporary Art presents an exhibition of Cheng's work.
Pew Fellow Karyn Olivier, Here and Now / Glacier, Shard, Rock, 2015, lenticular photo in billboard structure. Photo courtesy of the artist. Olivier is an artist-in-residence on Temple Contemporary’s Black Like That: Our Lives as Living Praxis.
Pew Fellow Karyn Olivier, Here and Now / Glacier, Shard, Rock, 2015, lenticular photo in billboard structure. Photo courtesy of the artist. Olivier is an artist-in-residence on Temple Contemporary’s Black Like That: Our Lives as Living Praxis.
Mikael Owunna, Infinite Essence: Uche, 2019. Image courtesy of the artist. Owunna is a collaborating artist on University City Science Center’s Futures Without Guns.
Mikael Owunna, Infinite Essence: Uche, 2019. Image courtesy of the artist. Owunna is a collaborating artist on University City Science Center’s Futures Without Guns.
Moki Cherry, Tibetan style ceiling canopy, 1977. Photo courtesy of Galleri Nicolai Wallner.
Moki Cherry, Tibetan style ceiling canopy, 1977. Photo courtesy of Galleri Nicolai Wallner.
Pew Fellow Jesse Krimes, Apokaluptein:16389067, 2010–13; prison bed sheets, transferred newsprint, color pencil, graphite, gouache; 480" x 180". Photo by Karsten Moran.
Pew Fellow Jesse Krimes, Apokaluptein:16389067, 2010–13; prison bed sheets, transferred newsprint, color pencil, graphite, gouache; 480" x 180". Photo by Karsten Moran.
Pew Fellowships

Pew Fellowships

Pew Fellowships provide unrestricted awards of $75,000 to individual Philadelphia-area artists from all disciplines, as well as focused professional advancement resources such as financial counseling and career development workshops. This year’s Pew Fellows work in visual art, film, photography, literature, poetry, and multidisciplinary practices. 

Adebunmi Gbadebo, 2022 Pew Fellow. Photo by Neal Santos.

“With my use of the land and body as material I am asserting literal Black bodies and Black spaces within an artistic canon that historically denies our influence.”

Adebunmi Gbadebo, Visual artist

Migrant caravan crossing the river that borders Guatemala and Mexico, 2020. Photo by Pew Fellow Ada Trillo.
Migrant caravan crossing the river that borders Guatemala and Mexico, 2020. Photo by Pew Fellow Ada Trillo.
Back to Top
Panelists

Below is a list of panelists who determined our 2022 Project grant and Pew Fellowship recipients. Download a full list of this year's panelists, LOI reviewers, and Fellowship application evaluators.

Exhibitions & Public Interpretation

Panelists

Joy Bivins  
Director  
New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture   
New York, NY

Luis Croquer  
Independent arts professional  
Boston, MA

Silvia Karman Cubiñá (Panel Chair)  
Executive Director and Chief Curator  
The Bass Museum of Art   
Miami, FL

Pablo de Ocampo  
Director and Curator, Moving Image  
Walker Art Center   
Minneapolis, MN

Sheetal Prajapati  
Founder and Consultant; Executive Director  
Lohar Projects; Common Field   
Sante Fe, NM

Brooke Kamin Rapaport  
Deputy Director and Martin Friedman Chief Curator  
Madison Square Park Conservancy   
New York, NY

Kamau Ware  
Founder and CEO; Founder and Lead Creative  
Kamau Studios LLC; Black Gotham   
New York, NY

Performance

Panelists

Joy Bivins   
Director   
New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture    
New York, NY

Phillippa Cole (Panel Chair)   
Senior Director, Artistic Planning   
San Francisco Symphony    
San Francisco, CA

Cynthia Hedstrom   
Producer   
The Wooster Group    
New York, NY

Andres L. Hernandez   
Associate Professor, Department of Art Education   
School of the Art Institute of Chicago    
Chicago, IL

Aram Moshayedi   
Robert Soros Senior Curator   
Hammer Museum at University of California, Los Angeles    
Los Angeles, CA

Arlene Shuler   
President and CEO   
New York City Center    
New York, NY

Lumi Tan   
Senior Curator   
The Kitchen    
New York, NY

Pew Fellowships

Panelists

Wassan Al-Khudhairi  
Chief Curator  
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis   
St. Louis, MO

Byron Au Yong  
Associate Professor, Performing Arts and Social Justice; Composer  
University of San Francisco   
San Francisco, CA

Jamie Blosser (Panel Chair)  
Executive Director  
Santa Fe Art Institute   
Santa Fe, NM

Danielle A. Jackson  
Curator  
Artists Space   
New York, NY

Lê Thị Diễm Thúy  
Poet, novelist, and performer  
Heath, MA

Edgar Miramontes  
Deputy Executive Director and Curator  
REDCAT | Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater   
Los Angeles, CA