City of Asylum/Pittsburgh

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City of Asylum/Pittsburgh provides sanctuary to writers escaping from extreme persecution in their home countries. As they acclimate to life in the United States, COA/P provides a cultural bridge for its artists-in-residence, and common ground for a community with gentrification on one side and poverty on the other. Attracting a diverse audience, COA/P programs combine the literary and performing arts, span languages and cultures, and take place in public spaces as well as in local schools and universities. COA/P will receive $50,000 over two years to support plans to transform a once rundown nuisance bar into a dynamic literary center that can serve as a cultural anchor and community hub. The new literary center is part of a larger effort by the organization and local partners to reinvigorate the Central Northside section of the city by catalyzing a multi-faceted, residential urban district infused with homegrown and international cultural programming, arts-related commercial activity, and mixed-use housing that could include artist live-work space.