Heinz Endowments

Last updated

The Heinz Endowments is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the United States, 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 organizations. [1]

Contents

Mission

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." [2]

History

Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 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, and the founder of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. [3]

Leadership

In 2014, former Pittsburgh Foundation president and CEO Grant Oliphant became president of the Endowments. [4] He had been associated with the Heinz family since joining the staff of U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III 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. [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"). [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death of the two founders, the foundation owned 90% of the non-voting shares of the Ford Motor Company. Between 1955 and 1974, the foundation sold its Ford Motor Company holdings and now plays no role in the automobile company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Endowment for the Arts</span> Independent agency of the United States federal government

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government by an act of the U.S. Congress, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 29, 1965. It is a sub-agency of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, along with the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teresa Heinz</span> American businesswoman and philanthropist (born 1938)

Teresa Heinz, also known as Teresa Heinz Kerry, is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. Heinz is the widow of former U.S. Senator John Heinz and the current wife of United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, longtime U.S. Senator, and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Heinz is Chair of the Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, commonly known as Mellon Foundation, is a New York City-based private foundation with five core areas of focus and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969 merger of the Avalon Foundation and the Old Dominion Foundation. These foundations had been set up separately by Ailsa Mellon Bruce and Paul Mellon, the children of Andrew Mellon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drue Heinz</span> American philanthropist of literature (1915–2018)

Drue Heinz, DBE was a British-born American actress, philanthropist, arts patron, and socialite. She was the publisher of the literary magazine The Paris Review, co-founded Ecco Press, founded literary retreats and endowed the Drue Heinz Literature Prize among others. She was married to H. J. Heinz II, president of Heinz.

The Heinz Foundations are several charitable foundations founded by members of the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Foods dynasty.

The Scaife Foundations refer collectively to three foundations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The three subdivisions are: the Allegheny Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and the Scaife Family Foundation. A fourth foundation, the Carthage Foundation, was folded into the Sarah Scaife Foundation in 2014. From 2003 to 2010, the foundations were among the largest contributors to the climate change denial movement.

Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and among the largest endowments in the United States. It was founded in 1937 by Josiah K. Lilly Sr. and his sons, Eli Jr. and Josiah Jr. (Joe), with an initial gift of Eli Lilly and Company stock valued at $280,000 USD. As of 2020, its total assets were worth $21 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squonk Opera</span>

Squonk Opera is a group of interdisciplinary performing artists from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Led by artistic directors Jackie Dempsey and Steve O'Hearn, Squonk Opera formed in 1992 and has created fourteen distinct shows and performed in over 250 venues in 35 of the United States. Squonk Opera has been touring internationally since 2003 - to Scotland, Belgium, Germany and twice to South Korea, where they opened both the Busan International Performing Arts Festival and the World Music Theater Festival. In 2017, Squonk was one of the first western acts to perform at the Qingdao International Beer Festival in Qingdao, China. Over 500,000 people have seen Squonk around the world, and reviews include “a multimedia troupe of infinite jest with an imagination to match” from The New York Times, "insane majesty" from The Scotsman, and "...surreal and poetic" from USA Today.

Community foundations (CFs) are instruments of civil society designed to pool donations into a coordinated investment and grant making facility dedicated primarily to the social improvement of a given place. Community foundations are a global phenomenon with 1700 existing around the world, of which over 700 are in the United States. Private foundations are typically endowed by an individual or a single family.

Carol Brown was President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, a $50 million private, nonprofit agency in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1986 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August Wilson African American Cultural Center</span> Performing arts and cultural center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The August Wilson African American Cultural Center is a U.S. nonprofit arts organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that presents performing and visual arts programs that celebrate the contributions of African Americans not only in Western Pennsylvania, but nationally and internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian Cultural Council</span> U.S.-based non-profit organization

The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing international cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. and between the countries of Asia through the arts. Founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1963, ACC has invested over $100 million in grants to artists and arts professionals representing 16 fields and 26 countries through over 6,000 exchanges. ACC supports $1.4 million in grants annually for individuals and organizations.

<i>Creative Nonfiction</i> (magazine) American literary magazine

Creative Nonfiction is a literary magazine based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The journal was founded by Lee Gutkind in 1993, making it the first literary magazine to publish, exclusively and on a regular basis, high quality nonfiction prose. In Spring 2010, Creative Nonfiction evolved from journal to magazine format with the addition of new sections such as writer profiles and essays on the craft of writing, as well as updates on developments in the literary nonfiction scene. As of 2023, the magazine has ceased publication, with no information provided about when or if they will resume publication.

ThePartnership in Education is a non-profit multidisciplinary health literacy and informal science education project based at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Partnership in Education produces planetarium shows and other multimedia that focus on topics in health and biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light Work</span> Nonprofit arts organization in Syracuse, New York

Light Work is a photography center in Syracuse, New York. The artist-run nonprofit supports photographers through a community-access digital lab facility, residencies, exhibitions, and publications.

Clarissa T. Sligh is an African-American book artist and photographer based in Asheville, North Carolina. At age 15, she was the lead plaintiff in a school desegregation case in Virginia. In 1988, she became a co-founder of Coast-to-Coast: A Women of Color National Artists' Project, which focused on promoting works completed by women of color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthy Ride</span>

Healthy Ride is a public bicycle sharing system that serves parts of Pittsburgh. Operations started on May 31, 2015, with 50 stations and 500 bikes. The system is owned and operated by Pittsburgh Bike Share, a Pittsburgh-based 501c3, with bikes provided by Nextbike.

Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC) is a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of 56 state humanities councils founded in the wake of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965. The Executive Director is Laurie Zierer.

The Foundation for the Carolinas is a donor-advised charity with a non-exclusive focus on North Carolina and South Carolina.

References

  1. ↑ "History," in "About." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Heinz Endowments, retrieved online July 6, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Our Mission," in "About." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Heinz Endowments, retrieved online July 6, 2019.
  3. ↑ "History," The Heinz Endowments.
  4. ↑ "Grant Oliphant to rejoin Heinz Endowments as president". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  5. ↑ Garber, Nick. "Heinz Endowments to award $500,000 in grants for art tackling social issues." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ Harrop, Joanne Klimovich. "Artists get $169 K in grants from Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Tribune Live, June 13, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.