We are getting a new home!

 

Imagine a vibrant center for dance and sound buzzing with youth, artists, and community from morning to night in the heart of historic Braddock, Pennsylvania. In 2024, PearlArts welcomes you to The Center where your art happens.

We are excited to share our New Future Campaign which will help us successfully open the space, establishing a gorgeous and  inspiring creative home for dynamic arts programming honoring Black creativity and forging our collective future. 

The 3rd story 5000 square foot space will include:

  • Two pristine dance studios: the larger of which serves as a performance space for showcases, works-in-progress, and multidisciplinary experimentation

  • Two fully equipped recording studios  

  • A combination office, workspace, and kitchenette

  • Community areas of a lounge and extra workspace


It will be a part of a new arts center in Braddock, providing a hub for art creation and community building. 

New Futures Update - October 16th, 2024

We’ve moved! We have many boxes to unpack, and Ikea shelving units to build, but we are officially preparing the space for students and artists.

Our Grand Opening is planned for Spring 2025, and we can’t wait to welcome all of our supporters to our new home!

New Futures Update - January 31st, 2024

PearlArts Executive Leadership and Board Representatives spent the afternoon with PA State Representative Abigail Salisbury in her Braddock Office discussing the resources and community engagement opportunities available in Braddock. The Representative was extremely helpful in guiding PearlArts to additional funding opportunities for the space, as well as additional insights into the community and other organizations working within the neighborhood.

New Futures Update - October 7th, 2023

The PearlArts Board of Directors were granted early access to the space to explore the area where PearlArts will soon run all operations. Board Members spoke with Developer Gregg Kander and Architect John Barbera about the layout of the space, and the preservation of this historic Braddock location. With much of the previous debris cleared away, and the groundwork laid for the individual rooms, it was easy to picture artists and art filling the high ceilings and beautifully lit studios which will soon replace the caution tape and loose beams.

New Futures Update - June 14th, 2023

The entire dance company of STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos were the first stakeholders in PearlArts able to set foot in what will soon be the Braddock Arts & Media Building. As dancers moved throughout the space, it was clear how the large space will soon be filled with the creativity and joyous energy of artists from all over the region. Thank you to our dancers for braving the rickety ladders and dust, we cannot wait to bring you along on the journey as this space transforms into PearlArts’s new home and New Future.

 
Archive Board Member Campaign Quotes
“PearlArts is producing world-class quality of work and they need and deserve their own space to do that. I am excited about having PearlArts based in Braddock and becoming part of the community there. I also think that Staycee is an incredible lead

“PearlArts is producing world-class quality of work and they need and deserve their own space to do that. I am excited about having PearlArts based in Braddock and becoming part of the community there. I also think that Staycee is an incredible leader, and dance needs more spaces where there are Black women at the front of the room.” - Kathleen McGuire Gaines, Chair of PearlArts

“A fellow Board member, Darrell Kinsel, said the following that's stuck with me and has been reinforced as my relationship with the organization grows and it's as follows: "PAS has cultural capital and is an institution in Pittsburgh!". In a tangibl

“A fellow Board member, Darrell Kinsel, said the following that's stuck with me and has been reinforced as my relationship with the organization grows and it's as follows: "PAS has cultural capital and is an institution in Pittsburgh!". In a tangible way, the new space asserts a (well deserved) sense of place for the organization in the Pittsburgh arts community. That in itself is powerful...and add to that, the intended uses of the space, the beautifully rich and colorful community it will continue to foster and grow (!), and I'm really excited for PAS's future and you should be too ☺.” - Natalee Smith, Secretary of PearlArts

“The new space will give PearlArts the opportunity to really expand its vision of sharing art, music and culture with the community in its own space that is uniquely PearlArts and to further solidify the impact of it’s presence and engagement in the

“The new space will give PearlArts the opportunity to really expand its vision of sharing art, music and culture with the community in its own space that is uniquely PearlArts and to further solidify the impact of it’s presence and engagement in the Pittsburgh arts community.” - LaToya Sawyer-Ndizeye, Board Member of PearlArts

Campaign Supporters

New Future Image Documentation Project

We are very excited to have multimedia artist, Njaimeh Njie, document our renovation and campaign progress. Njaimeh Njie (b. 1988. Pittsburgh, PA) is a multimedia artist. Working across photography, film, installation, and public art, her practice centers everyday Black people, narratives, and landscapes.

Njaimeh has already taken many amazing photographs of our beautiful dancers in the pre-renovated state of our new home, and will continue to create images of our progress throughout the year, providing a window to our promising new future.

We plan to share these images, progress reports, comments and thoughts from our community of stakeholders. Once compiled, the documentation will be archived in a limited edition coffee table book.