Pew Center for Arts and Heritage

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Our Grantmaking

Art and access to it are essential to the fabric of civic life. As a multidisciplinary grantmaker dedicated to fostering a vibrant and diverse cultural ecology in the Philadelphia region, the Center annually awards grants to organizations and artists, whose imaginative programs, events, and artistic work inspire audiences and make Philadelphia a thriving hub for culture.

Introducing Our 2023 Grantees

$9 million in new grants from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage supports artists and public events that connect art with healing, explore cultural identity, and tell diverse and unique Philadelphia stories. Learn more about our 2023 grantees.

Project Grants

Project grants in two funding areas, Performance and Exhibitions & Public Interpretation, support a spectrum of public programs that engage broad and varied publics in theaters, performing arts venues, museums, galleries, civic sites, community spaces, and neighborhoods.

Happening Now
A map of Philadelphia's Historic 7th Ward. Photo courtesy of Philadelphia City Archives. 7th Ward Tribute

The Philadelphia City Fund

The Black cultural history of Philadelphia's historic 7th Ward neighborhood comes alive through art installations, walking tours, and events.

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Happening Now
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea, 2015; three-channel HD color video installation, 7.1 sound, 48 minutes 30 seconds. Photo courtesy of the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America

African American Museum in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Two historic museums present a joint exhibition of new works by 20 artists invited to respond to the question: “Is the sun rising or setting on the experiment of American democracy?”

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Maeng Wookjae, Secret Forest, 2019; porcelain, gold, paper, wire frame, elastic band, light, sound; 110" x 67" x 67". Photo courtesy of Korea Ceramic Foundation.
A map of Philadelphia's Historic 7th Ward. Photo courtesy of Philadelphia City Archives.
Composer Evan Williams. Photo by Amurica Photo.
Artist Nathan Young records sounds along the Delaware River for the sound installation nkwiluntàmën at Pennsbury Manor. Photo by Ryan Strand Greenberg. 
John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea, 2015; three-channel HD color video installation, 7.1 sound, 48 minutes 30 seconds. Photo courtesy of the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Pew Fellowships in the Arts

Pew Fellowships provide direct financial support through unrestricted grants to distinctive artists of all disciplines who live and work in our region.

Meet Our 2023 Fellows
A Black Nonbinary person looks directly at the camera with their right hand cupping their chin. They are wearing a tall cap and a leather jacket with rings. They have a septum piercing and prideful expression. The person's skin and clothing are various shades of black and the background is white.
Candice Iloh
  • Literature
Vernon Jordan, III, 2023 Pew Fellow. Image courtesy of IMDB.
Vernon Jordan, III
  • Literature
  • Film & Media
Carmen Maria Machado, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Art Streiber for AUGUST.
Carmen Maria Machado
  • Literature
Shehrezad Maher, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Jo Weeks.
Shehrezad Maher
  • Film & Media
Darius Monroe Clark, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Katie Rodgers.
Darius Clark Monroe
  • Film & Media
Vitche-Boul Ra, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Marcus Branch.
Vitche-Boul Ra
  • Performance
Samantha Rise, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Yessenia Lopez.
Samantha Rise
  • Music
Karen Smith, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Rick Cothran. 
Karen Smith
  • Music
Kristen Neville Taylor, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by John Taylor.
Kristen Neville Taylor
  • Visual Art
Sumi Tonooka, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Karen Sterling.
Sumi Tonooka
  • Music
Armando Veve, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Aaron Richter.
Armando Veve
  • Visual Art
Pew Fellow Phillip B. Williams performs a reading at National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Elijah Bean.
Phillip B. Williams
  • Literature
Carmen Maria Machado, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Art Streiber for AUGUST.

“To me, writing is both a practice of synthesizing human experience through language and interrogating the role of that synthesis in the experience of being alive.”

— Carmen Maria Machado, Writer
Samantha Rise, 2023 Pew Fellow. Photo by Yessenia Lopez.

“The majority of my artistic practice is dedicated to helping communities re-embody music as their birthright and art as a vehicle for igniting individual and collective power.”

— Samantha Rise, Songwriter and performer
Vernon Jordan, III, 2023 Pew Fellow. Image courtesy of IMDB.

“I’m curious about presenting film as Black poetics: using film to strike at feelings in the bones and the politics of the blood, the big gestures and the small touch.”

— Vernon Jordan, III, Writer, poet, and filmmaker

Grantmaking Impact

$182,600,182

Total grant dollars awarded

1,949

Total number of grants in the Center's history

400

Total number of Pew Fellowships for artists