Launched in late summer 2020 as a response to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps supports and commissions temporary public projects and artist-led activities to encourage community connection, healing, and economic recovery through activation of Pittsburgh’s public and civic spaces.
Pittsburgh Creative Corps Projects & Programs
The first project commissioned by the Pittsburgh Creative Corps was a series of handwashing kiosks that were deployed in Downtown Pittsburgh and on the riverfronts. Artists Ally Lush, Maggie Negrete, and Marcel Walker were commissioned to develop informational illustrations to accompany the temporary handwashing kiosks. The artwork illustrated public health guidance related to mask wearing, handwashing, how to identify symptoms of COVID-19, and what to do in case of symptoms. The handwashing kiosks were deployed for a second time during the 2021 season.
Our projects and partnerships have continued to grow as Pittsburgh moves through COVID-19.
Read more about the Pittsburgh Creative Corps’ past, current, and upcoming projects and partnerships below.
Past Projects & Programs
2021
From June through September 2021, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps held a series of programs at the Allegheny Overlook Pop-up Park along Fort Duquesne Boulevard in downtown Pittsburgh. The series included workshops, artist residencies, and movement classes designed to engage arts and culture to help rebuild the city's relationship to its public and civic spaces.
2022
From May through September 2022, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps hosted a series of programs at Allegheny Landing, the Backyard at 8th & Penn, and various locations throughout Pittsburgh. Programs and locations highlighted how arts and culture can activate public spaces and bring communities together.
Image credits
Top to bottom, left to right:
(1) Installation of Pathway to Joy, by artist Janel Young, photo by Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; (2) Installation of the handwashing kiosks, featuring artwork by Marcel Walker, photo by Riverlife; (3) River of the Ancient Ones, by Pittsburgh Creative Corps artist-in-residence Lindsey Scherloum, photo by Heather Mull; (4) Flamenco Pittsburgh leads a dance class at Allegheny Landing, photo by Heather Mull.