[1] The Heinz Endowments "seeks to help [its] region thrive as a whole and just community, and through that work to model solutions to major national and global challenges," and concentrates "on advancing a sustainable future for our community and planet, successful learning outcomes for young people and their families, and a culture of engaged creativity for all our citizens.
On July 1, 2019, the organization announced the launch of its "Just Arts Initiative," a grantmaking program to support artists and art organizations responding to pressing social issues facing the Pittsburgh area.
According to news reports, the initiative "will give funding priority to projects that focus on the voices of communities and residents most directly affected by injustice and encourages submissions from young people or that focuses on youth voices.
[5] Prior to that announcement, in June 2019, newspapers reported that fifteen artists were named as recipients of $169,000 in grant funding provided by the Heinz Endowments in collaboration with The Pittsburgh Foundation.
The fifteen artists receiving support were: Cameron Barnett (poetry), Asia Bey (graphic novel), Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (artist residency with Seth Clark), Shikeith Cathey (photography, sculpture and video), Kevin Clancy (gallery exhibit of multidisciplinary works), Anthony DePaolis (jazz music composition and recording), Phillip Andrew Lewis (development of a living, sustainable sculptural installation with greenhouse), Clayton Merrell (visual art exploration of global ecology), Njaimeh Njie (production of documentary about Blackness in Rust Belt cities), Mikael Owunna (photography book focused on LGBTQ African migrants), Adriana Ramirez (research and manuscript completion of a book regarding the history of violence in the Americas "from Pittsburgh to Colombia and back"), Martha Rial (Millvale expansion of the mural project "Beyond the Ceiling"), Anjali Sachdeva (development of a new novel), Joy-Marie Thompson (new live contemporary dance project), and Anna Thompson and Taylor Knight (touring and premier of a new multidisciplinary performance work, "empathy machine").