Pew Center Announces 2010 Heritage Philadelphia Program Grant Recipients

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, through the Heritage Philadelphia Program, announced $706,154 in grants to nine cultural and heritage organizations. This year's grantees include three first-time applicants and five first-time grant recipients.

Among the projects funded: The Legacy Center at Drexel University College of Medicine, founded in 1850 as the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, will develop a plan to use video game technology to attract teenagers to its digital library of historical archives. Scribe Video Center will work with independent filmmakers, scholars, and community leaders to create "Muslim Voices of Philadelphia," an oral history and media project that explores the long history of Muslim communities in the region, some of which date back to the 1870s. The National Constitution Center will develop a theatrical presentation and multimedia installation to complement "Fighting for Democracy," a temporary exhibition which traces the lives of seven Americans, all of varied backgrounds, before, during, and after World War II.

According to Bill Adair, Director of the Heritage Philadelphia Program, "These projects involve planning activities that are experiential, multidisciplinary, and audience-centered, and are at the leading edge of historic interpretation and preservation."

This year, Heritage Philadelphia Program's awards support both planning and interpretive endeavors that specifically address the needs and ongoing dialogues of local communities.

Please visit http://www.pcah.us/heritage and view the full text of this release as well as the list of organizations that have received grants, plus information about this year's peer-review panel.

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is dedicated to stimulating a vibrant cultural community in the five-county, Southeastern Pennsylvania region. Established in 2005, the Center houses seven funding Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trusts, and through them supports area artists and arts and heritage organizations whose work is distinguished by excellence, imagination, and courage. Each year, the Center's grants make possible more than 800 performances in dance, music, and theatre as well as history and visual arts exhibitions, and other public programs for audiences in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties. The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. For more information, visit www.pcah.us.