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Entrepreneurship & Creators Opportunity: Homewood-based artists wanted

Aug 15, 2022

The goal of the ECO: Homewood is project is to provide the outdoor area around 7800 with a more welcoming neighborhood feel and better connect the broader Homewood community with the activities occurring inside the building.

APPLY to ECO: Homewood HERE

Download the Full Project Description & Eligibility Details

Project Overview

Bridgeway Capital’s Creative Business Accelerator (CBA) in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Homewood’s Legacy Arts Project are partnering to create an exciting opportunity for Homewood-based artists to design site furnishings for the exterior of 7800 Susquehanna Street.

The goal of the ECO: Homewood is project is to provide the outdoor area around 7800 with a more welcoming neighborhood feel and better connect the broader Homewood community with the activities occurring inside the building. To accomplish this, the CBA will engage local artists, craftspeople, and a variety of community stakeholders to design and choose site furnishings—waste receptacles, benches, bike racks and planters- to be installed around 7800. This opportunity, funded with generous support from the National Endowment of the Arts, is an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurial artists and designers with connections to the Homewood community to develop customized exterior furnishings for display outside at 7800 Susquehanna St., with the possibility of future placement throughout Homewood.

Local artists, with priority consideration given to artists from Homewood, will be commissioned to tap into the visual imagery and design principles arising out of the Homewood Experience (the Homewood Positive Image Campaign) to develop furnishings that communicate the pride and culture of the neighborhood. Local design and fabrication businesses in the CBA network will partner with the artists to fuse their art works with site furniture. Additionally, in partnership with Homewood’s Legacy Arts Project, students will be invited to engage in project-based learning and participate in the process, beginning with the development of an artistic idea and concluding with the installation of site furnishings. The students will share in the process of reflecting Homewood’s story in the design elements as they gain an understanding of an iterative and community-centric creative process, digital design, and fabrication techniques.

Artists from the Homewood neighborhood are invited to submit samples of their artwork through a simple application to be considered by a committee of Homewood community residents and stakeholders. Six artists will be chosen to move to the next phase, where they will receive a stiped to create original designs incorporating elements from the Homewood Positivity Campaign. These designs will be incorporated into customize standard bike racks, trash receptacles, benches and planters that are manufactured by Wilkinsburg- based manufacturer Technique Architectural Products. Out of these six artists, the ECO: Homewood committee will choose one design of each product, from a minimum of two different artists. These artists will receive a second stipend to refine their designs for manufacturing.

Product Categories for Design Include: