Barnes Foundation to oversee Pew Center for Arts & Heritage following University of the Arts shutdown.

The Barnes Foundation will serve as the new organizational home for The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, a prominent funding body for the arts in the Philadelphia region. This transition comes in response to the closure of the University of the Arts in June 2024, which previously provided essential support to the center.

The Pew Charitable Trusts, a longstanding supporter of the center for over 20 years, will maintain its funding commitment. Annually, the center distributes between million and million to local arts organizations and individual artists. In the previous fiscal year, the center allocated over million toward a diverse range of projects, including institutional advancements for Opera Philadelphia and The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, as well as funding for 12 local artists through the Pew Fellowship in the Arts.

Over the last two decades, the Pew Center has facilitated the commissioning of around 500 new artworks. The operational shift to the Barnes Foundation will introduce changes primarily in administrative functions such as human resources and financial management, while day-to-day arts programming will remain consistent. This strategic rearrangement will take effect in August.

Since its establishment in 2005, the Pew Center has functioned without a formal 501(c)(3) status, necessitating a fiscal sponsor. The University of the Arts had served in this capacity until its unexpected closure last year. Following this event, the Pew Charitable Trusts temporarily assumed the sponsorship role, ensuring continuity for grant recipients. However, both Pew and the center sought a long-term partner more closely aligned with their mission in the arts, leading to their partnership with the Barnes Foundation.

The Barnes Foundation has previously received support from Pew for significant projects, including work on the forthcoming Calder Gardens on the Parkway. Importantly, while the Barnes will not participate in the grantmaking process under this new arrangement, it will forfeit its eligibility for Pew grants.

In conjunction with this transition, Paula Marincola, the center’s executive director for many years, will step down in October to allow for the appointment of a new leader tasked with overseeing this partnership. Marincola expressed her satisfaction with the accomplishments during her tenure but noted that the timing of this change felt appropriate.

Despite recent federal funding cuts impacting various arts organizations in Philadelphia, Pew funding remains stable. Both entities anticipate that their collaboration with the Barnes Foundation will bolster ongoing support for local cultural initiatives. The partnership heralds not just a new operational phase, but also an opportunity to expand the reach and impact of arts funding in the Philadelphia area, fostering a vibrant cultural landscape even in challenging economic conditions.