Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Media Contact:
Madigan Greiner, Show Marketing Coordinator
Rising Voices I: The Bennett Prize Assets
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Announces
Rising Voices I: The Bennett Prize Exhibition
Opens at the 937 Gallery
Showcasing and celebrating the works of women figurative realist painters
937 Gallery | Free
Pittsburgh, PA – The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is excited to announce the reopening of the 937 Gallery with in person access to the Rising Voices 1: The Bennett Prize Exhibition which kicked off during the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival on June 4, 2021. This inspiring exhibition showcases the works of women figurative realist painters and celebrates this unique category of art.
"Rising Voices: The Bennett Prize for Women Figurative Realist Painters" features 29 works by 10 women artists presenting a vibrant array of subjects and themes. The paintings are by finalists for the inaugural award and exhibition of The Bennett Prize, which awards $50,000 biennially to a woman painter whose principal focus is figurative painting. These 10 artists were chosen from a field of 647 entrants from across the United States. Their paintings were selected for technical excellence, emotive and conceptually expressive qualities, and for the ability of the artists to tell stories that address the timeless and contemporary issues facing not only women, but society as a whole. The Bennett Prize seeks to encourage the pursuit of figurative realism by women painters and provides support over two years to a painter whose work demonstrates excellence in the genre. The Bennett Prize is a collaboration with founders Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine M. Schmidt, The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Muskegon Museum of Art. The founders and the organizers of The Bennett Prize hope that it will elevate women in the visual arts and inspire a new generation of artists to make representational paintings that are culturally and critically relevant and engaging.
“The artists in Rising Voices are starting new conversations about societal conventions, aesthetics, sexuality, body image and age,” Pittsburgh Foundation President and CEO Lisa Schroeder said at a recent event. “They continue to imagine women and the worlds we inhabit in ways that are instantly recognizable, but also tantalizing and subversive. These women have ideas. The Bennett Prize stands as a vivid illustration of what generous philanthropists with an inspired idea can do by working in partnership with community philanthropy.”
The exhibition is on display at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s 937 Gallery from June 4 – August 8, 2021. In addition to the in person experience, a virtual edition of the gallery experience will be hosted on the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s website. This virtual component includes informative discussions that provide a deeper explanation of the Bennett Prize and images of the works included in the Rising Voices I collection.
Gallery Information
937 Gallery
Located at 937 Liberty Avenue
Hours:
June 16 – August 8: Wednesday - Thursday 11-6 | Friday - Saturday 11-8 | Sunday 11-5
Virtual Component Information
Visit TrustArts.org/BennettPrize to view the virtual gallery viewing
Available 24/7 through August 8, 2021
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More information about The Bennett Prize is at http://www.thebennettprize.org. Follow The Bennett Prize on Facebook and Instagram for ongoing updates on the finalists and exhibitions.
More information about the Bennetts and their art collection is at http://www.thebennettartcollection.com.
The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Center for Philanthropy is one of only a few centers in the country offering expertise to donors to help them determine how to meet philanthropic goals through grantmaking and nonprofit management, personalized education sessions and guidance on multi-generational giving.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh’s most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country’s largest land masses “curated” by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh’s quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts.
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