ARTIST SERVICES: OVERVIEW

Pittsburgh Filmmakers and Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is dedicated to exhibiting our region’s finest artists, to providing educational experiences in the arts, and to serving artists working across a variety of disciplines.

In addition to providing equipment and facilities to our members through Access Membership, we offer individual artists professional support in building portfolios, fiscal sponsorship, networking opportunities and much more. Our continuing success and growth depend on our members, and today we invite you to join as a member of a special place to experience art, to learn about art, and to answer your own artistic calling.

ACCESS MEMBERSHIP

Access Members of PF/PCA receive all the benefits and discounts of associate membership, and have access to the resources necessary to pursue their artistic ambitions. From darkrooms to kilns, printing presses to digital editing suites, Filmmakers and the Center for the Arts have a wealth of tools and facilities, and our staff members working in artist services are on hand to share their expertise with you. Membership benefits include:

Pay-as-you-go access to PF/PCA equipment (with test-out or approval by PF/PCA staff). Access packages in specific disciplines can be purchased for year-long access on a rent-free basis

Discounts at local art supply stores

Discounts on classes, workshops, and talks

CONDUITING PROGRAM

Independent artists face genuine obstacles when seeking the funding necessary to continue and complete their work. Often they are hindered by the absence of legal status for the project, as many corporate funders and foundations restrict grant making to fully tax-exempt organizations. Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts uses fiscal sponsorship to overcome these obstacles and meet the needs of individual artists. PF/PCAs' Conduiting Program provides artist projects with the ability to apply for funding and other resources available only to organizations with 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. PF/PCA takes a 5% admin fee from funds received.

In order to apply for the program, an applicant must be a PF/PCA access member in good standing. Filmmakers requires an applicant to complete and send in an application accompanied by a project proposal which includes a detailed description/treatment of the project, fundraising and distribution plan, résumés of key personnel, a list of project advisors (as applies), a budget and a sample reel or portfolio of past work. The proposal will be reviewed by a PF/PCA screening committee.

Once a project is accepted into the Conduiting Program, PF/PCA will administer and turn over all funding raised by the artist after deducting a 5% administrative fee.

WORKSHOPS FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS

Professional development workshops are offered at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Pittsburgh Filmmakers These workshops are designed to help professional and amateur artists to complement their artistic skills with the knowledge necessary to run a successful artistic practice. Examples of previous workshops include: Taxes for Artists, How to Write an Artist Statement, Creating Public Art, Documenting 2D and 3D artwork, Digital Printing and Websites for Artists.

FLIGHT SCHOOL: A CAREER DEVELOPMENT FELLOWSHIP FOR PITTSBURGH ARTISTS

Initiated in 2010, this new artist service initiative is housed and serviced by Pittsburgh Filmmakers/ Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. With the combined mentorship of the internationally known Creative Capital Foundation program and a unique series of follow-up workshops, Pittsburgh's Flight School Fellowship helps artists use that same practice to reinvent their careers. Flight School offers artists the opportunity and the guidance necessary to take a critical look at their career, and to see how a new professional model may help them achieve both their artistic and professional goals. It's a chance to reexamine their professional life and amplify the aspects that are working - and to overhaul those which are not.

CLASSES AT PF/PCA

The PCA School offers a variety of art classes and workshops for all ages and learning levels. Children, teens and adults enjoy introductory, intermediate and advanced classes in both 2D and 3D fine arts, media arts, photography and filmmaking. Classes are run in four terms per year - fall, winter, spring and summer, and courses can be one to eight sessions long.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers offers classes in all phases of film, photography and video production including scriptwriting, pre-production and budgeting, camerawork, processing, printing, lighting, sound, editing, color management, directing and producing. Courses are semester long and can be taken on a non-credit basis for independent students. Some classes are offered as “short courses” for 4-weeks.

SCHOOL & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS (ARTIST RESIDENCY)

The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ works with and through a network of partners comprised of local and regional arts organizations to support quality arts education programs. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is the regional partner for the Allegheny, Washington, Greene, and Beaver Counties. Artists in Residence through the School & Community Programs department can bring artist residencies to schools, nonprofit service agencies, and community organizations working with both children and adults in these counties.

More about School & Communitiy Programs

FILMMAKERS LIBRARY

The Filmmakers Library is an academic library specializing in Fine Art Film, Photography, and Digital Media. In addition to books, the library houses DVDs, multiple periodical titles, stock footage, royalty free music, sound effects and photographic collections. The Filmmakers library is open to community, but borrowing privileges are limited to access members, students, staff and faculty. The Library Conversation Series is a monthly series seeking to create a casual atmosphere is which the community is invited to meet with local artist, educator, or expert in the fine arts of film, photography and digital media. Conversations are free and open to the public.

THE SHOP AT PITTSBURGH CENTER FOR THE ARTS

The Shop at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is a Consignment Gallery, promoting and selling the work of local artists in disciplines ranging from fibers and print to ceramics and glass. Screenings are held for new consignment artists several times through out the year. Members of Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts are eligible for 55%artist/45% PCA commission split of the retail sales price; Non-Members receive a 50% artist/50%PCA commission split.

ANNUAL EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITIES AT PF/PCA

Annual Call for Solo/Collaborative Exhibitions at PF/PCA Galleries

PF/PCA is committed to showcasing the region's best contemporary art, and annually invites all artists living within a 150-mile radius of Pittsburgh to apply for solo and two-person-collaborative exhibitions to take place during the following calendar year. Exhibitions in PCA galleries vary in length from six weeks to four months. An open call for proposals is released in Spring for a Fall deadline.

Three Rivers Film Festival Shorts Program

Each year space is devoted in the festival for a competitive selection of shorts – a program for artists working in film and video that allows them to creatively take risks, break new ground or challenge the viewer. An open international call is released in the Summer for a Fall deadline.

Monthly Film Kitchen and Annual Film Kitchen Competition

Film Kitchen is monthly series highlights regional, independent film and video work. There is an annual competition open to submissions based around a theme.

PFPCA has served over 10,000 artists in the Pittsburgh area!
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