Pew Fellowships in the Arts at 25
Celebrating a quarter-century of support to artists
In 2017, The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Pew Fellowships in the Arts. Since 1992, the Fellowships program has invested annually in the Philadelphia region’s most talented artists working in all disciplines. Direct financial support through unrestricted grants affords our Fellows valuable time and substantial resources to focus on artistic exploration and professional development. Today, the Fellowships program is among the most highly regarded of its kind in the country, and has become a model for other artist-centered philanthropic initiatives. This web page and accompanying short film honor a quarter-century of steadfast belief in the value and impact of artists.
25 Years. 323 Artists. Over $17.2 Million. And Counting...
Our Pew Fellows represent a community of creative minds working in all disciplines—poets and writers, directors and playwrights, musicians and composers, designers and architects, folk and traditional artists, choreographers, visual artists, and filmmakers—who reflect the diverse and lively cultural ecology of our region. See a full list of Pew Fellows
316 Fellowships had been awarded to 323 artists and artist teams, as of 2016.
Awarded over 25 years. Fellows receive unrestricted grants of $75,000 (increased to $85K in 2024).
Twelve Fellowships are awarded annually to artists working in the five-county Philadelphia region.
The first group of Fellowships are awarded, through a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is established, bringing together funding programs, including the Fellowships, and awarding grants throughout Greater Philadelphia.
The Fellowships program responds to contemporary artistic practice, removing discipline-specific categories and expanding support across all fields.
Our Fellows range from young artists of 25 to young at heart at 90.
Fellows' work has been featured in the Whitney and Venice Biennials, Edinburgh Fringe and Sundance Film Festivals, at MoMA, Tate Modern, The Met, BAM, and hundreds of other venues worldwide.
“My life changed overnight. I became, effectively, a full-time artist. My career took off.”
Jennifer Higdon, composer, 1999 Pew Fellow
In Conversation: Pew Fellowships & Artistic Practice
In 2017, the Center’s executive director, Paula Marincola, and Pew Fellowships director, Melissa Franklin, reflected on a quarter-century of direct support to artists—how we got started, how the program has evolved, and what we’ve learned.
We also invited Pew Fellows and poets Sonia Sanchez (1993) and Major Jackson (1995) to the Center for a conversation about artistic practice, the rewards of teaching, and Sanchez’s influence on younger generations of poets, including Jackson, who studied under Sanchez at Temple University.
“I think Philadelphia is one of the great cities to be a creative person in the country right now…The region has become, in my view, one of the great creative laboratories in the country.”
Brian Phillips, architect, 2011 Pew Fellow
Fellows Around the World
Pew Fellows have made an impact regionally, nationally, and internationally. Learn more about their growing list of accomplishments—from Pulitzer Prizes and Guggenheim Fellowships, to presentations in leading biennales, museums, and festivals around the globe.
"I maintain that to be a really good poet, you have got to daydream."
Sonia Sanchez, poet, 1993 Pew Fellow
