The Heinz Endowments is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and was formed with the combined support from two smaller, private foundations: the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. It awards more than $60 million annually in grants to a range of

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organizations.

Mission

The Heinz Endowments "seeks to help tsregion 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."

History

Based in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

the Heinz Endowments consists of two private foundations: the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. The Howard Heinz Endowment was established in 1941 via a bequeath from the residual estate of Howard Heinz (1877-1941), a native of Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania who had served as president of the H. J. Heinz Co. The Vira I. Heinz Endowment was formed via funding from the estate of Vira I. Heinz, the first woman to serve on the board of directors of a multinational corporation headquartered in Pittsburgh (the H. J. Heinz Co.), the first woman to serve on the board of trustees of

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

, and the founder of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

Leadership

In 2014, former Pittsburgh Foundation president and CEO Grant Oliphant became president of the Endowments. He had been associated with the Heinz family since joining the staff of U.S. Senator

H. John Heinz III Henry John Heinz III (October 23, 1938 – April 4, 1991) was an American businessman and Republican politician from Pennsylvania. Heinz represented the Pittsburgh suburbs in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 and ...

in 1988 and had served the Heinz Endowments in management roles before helming the Pittsburgh Foundation.

Grantmaking

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. Initial plans called for the organization to award grants in the range of $1,000 to $150,000 per individual project with a total outlay for the initiative expected to reach $500,000. 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. 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 Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

(graphic novel),

Children's Museum of Pittsburgh The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is a hands-on interactive children's museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is in the Allegheny Center neighborhood in Pittsburgh's Northside. History The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh was founded in 1983 ...

(artist residency with Seth Clark), Shikeith Cathey (photography, sculpture and video), Kevin Clancy (gallery exhibit of multidisciplinary works),

Anthony DePaolis Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anto ...

(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 The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions an ...

cities),

Mikael Owunna Mikael Chukwuma Owunna (born 1990) is an African-American photographer who currently lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Life Owunna was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of Nigerian and Swedish heritage. As a youth he attended board ...

(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").Harrop, Joanne Klimovich.
Artists get $169 K in grants from Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation
" Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Tribune Live, June 13, 2019.

References

External links