PITTSBURGH — The city of Pittsburgh announced Wednesday that $800,000 in grant funding has been dedicated for public art projects across 18 neighborhoods.
The City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning Public Art and Civic Design division is calling for artists to commission new public artwork for the largest introduction of new public art in the city for decades, according to a news release
The projects are being funded through grants and “percent for art” funding as part of city projects, coming at no additional new cost, the release states.
“We are excited to announce these upcoming opportunities to enhance public art throughout the city,” Mayor William Peduto said. “Not only will these projects support our artists, but they also provide an opportunity to creatively reflect the values, character and identity of our communities.”
The Allegheny Regional Asset District Art in Parks program is providing a $500,000 grant as part of the RADical ImPAct Grant program, launched in honor of RAD’s 25th anniversary to fund bold, forward-looking and creative projects that will have a radical impact on the region, the release states.
The first call for artists or artist teams is to create object-based sculpture or site-specific installations and landscape works in each of the city’s five RAD parks: Emerald View Park, Frick Park, Highland Park, Riverview Park and Schenley Park. Bid submissions are due Tuesday, March 23. The request for proposals is available here.
“The RADical ImPAct grant program was designed to allow our regional assets to dream big about the future of our creative landscape,” said Rich Hudic, RAD executive director. “We are particularly excited about the Art in Parks program, which will bring large-scale works of public art into our regional parks. We look forward to this project bringing a renewed sense of vitality to our public spaces by making art a part of our everyday lives.”
Subsequent calls for artists throughout the year will include “percent for art” projects in various city parks and municipal buildings as well as the Bus Rapid Transit project. “Percent for art” refers to the city’s municipal ordinance that stipulates that at least 1% of the amount for municipal construction or renovation of public buildings be reserved for the inclusion of works of art, the release states.
Pittsburgh currently has nearly 200 public monuments, memorials and artworks, the release states.
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