‘Business, Meet the Arts’ to present arts management challenges to local professionals

PITTSBURGH (December 5, 2011) – In an on-going effort to build connections  with and bring the knowledge of the business community to the local arts community, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (GPAC) invites business professionals to take a ‘look under the hood’ of the arts scene in our area on December 12.

PITTSBURGH (May 23, 2011) – The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (GPAC) and the August Wilson Center for African American Culture are pleased to host Pennsylvania First Lady Susan Corbett on Wednesday, June 8 as part of GPAC's Annual Meeting. Mrs. Corbett will discuss her recent appointment as chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and strategic initiatives for arts and arts education within the state. She will be followed by keynote speaker Alan Brown of WolfBrown, best known for his nationally-recognized research on trends in cultural participation. He will also present a specialized audience development workshop the same afternoon.

More Than $1.8 Million Pumped into Region's Arts Organizations

PITTSBURGH, PA - May 13, 2011 - Pittsburgh is Art. Wednesday the community demonstrated why by pumping more than $1.8 million into the region's art and culture organizations. More than 3,800 individual contributions were received over the 24-hour period – 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, May 11.

Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council Develops a New Program to Equip and Educate Local Arts Organizations about Accessibilty

PITTSBURGH, PA – October 27, 2010 – Nonprofit arts and culture organizations are frequently under-resourced and over-capacity to carve out time and money to address issues of accessibility. While the US Census Bureau illustrates that over 21% of the US population 15 years and older and 51% of the US population 65 years and older have disabilities, most arts and cultural organizations lack the expertise, training, and technical tools to tackle this challenge.

Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council Launches New Program with a Free One-Day Professional Development Retreat

PITTSBURGH, PA – September 9, 2010 – Arts organizations, in a similar fashion to businesses and individuals, are responding to the challenges of the recession by seeking ways to develop new sources of revenue, by cutting budgets, by narrowing their programming focus to mission critical activities, by revisiting strategic plan goals and timelines, and by exploring partnerships and shared services with other institutions. To help these organizations increase their capacity and sustainability for the future, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (GPAC) announces the launch of Strengthening Pittsburgh Arts with a full-day of free workshops for arts leaders and managers on Thursday, September 23, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at the Father Ryan Arts Center in McKees Rocks.

Michael Kaiser, President of the Kennedy Center, brings “Arts in Crisis” tour to Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (April 16, 2010) – The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council welcomes Michael Kaiser, President of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC to its Annual Meeting. Mr. Kaiser has made a career out of transforming troubled arts organizations into thriving institutions. At the meeting, he will share his views on what is most important when an arts organization faces a financial crisis. The meeting is co-hosted by the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, and also highlights advocacy and outreach initiatives that communicate the value and economic strength of the arts sector. Due to the generosity of our major sponsors, we have been able to open up this event to the general public.

Innovative program helps arts and culture organizations negatively impacted by the economic downturn

PITTSBURGH (February 19, 2010) – As the first event of a new program called Strengthening Pittsburgh Arts, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (GPAC) will gather local arts professionals for CollaborAction, an interactive matchmaking session designed to help identify strategic partnerships among local arts groups. Due to winter storms and facilitator illness, the session has been rescheduled to Friday, March 5 at GPAC on the second floor of 810 Penn Avenue.

PITTSBURGH (July 9, 2009) – PA Senate Bill 850, which eliminates all funding for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) and the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program from the state budget, is on the verge of being resurrected and brought to the House floor for a vote as early as next week. In response to the crisis, The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council is mobilizing artists and arts supporters to march in the Save the Arts in Pennsylvania Rally on Tuesday, July 14 at 11:00am in the Main Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg.