From Jeremy Reynolds’ article for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Pittsburgh’s arts scene often punches above its weight, with more cultural offerings than other cities of similar size.

What’s our secret? Simple: A well-oiled philanthropic machine, a mix of foundations and art-loving individuals, and some public funding to boot.

The Heinz Endowments, a foundation with net assets of more than $1 billion, on Thursday announced the first cohort of winners for its Creative Development Awards program, with grants totaling $351,000 for local artists in a wide variety of disciplines. A through line appears to be a focus on diversity.

This year’s recipients include 14 artists and institutions supporting a mix of musicians, animators, theater professionals, photographers and other artists. The grants range from $15,000 to $35,000 and in the future, they will be announced annually. These are the grants, listed by amount . . . Pittsburgh Glass Center ($35,000) for a residency and exhibition of artist Mikael Owunna’s “Infinite Essence.” The exhibition will feature glass sculpture with ultraviolet technology and fluorescent painting techniques developed by the artist.

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Browse all of Mikael Owunna’s work at ClampArt