The Andy Warhol Museum is developing a $60 million ‘Pop District’ for public art and live events in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The new cultural tourism destination will cover six blocks on the North Shore in Pittsburgh, the city where American artist Andy Warhol was born.
“Andy continues to be emblematic of the American entrepreneurial spirit—a true agent of influence and change,” said Patrick Moore, the Andy Warhol Museum’s director.
Moore said the development is “an example of how creative communities throughout the country can be activated to boost and sustain a local economy through focusing on opportunities and experiences for young people”.
The Andy Warhol Museum is projecting $100 million in annual economic activity, and between 50,000 and 70,000 new visitors to the North Shore every year.
The project’s first phase, through 2024, includes developing new education programmes outside of the museum, as well as a series of new public art projects.
In the second phase, staring in 2024, the Warhol and its sister institutions in the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh will oversee a capital campaign to build a new live performance venue for concerts and events.
“The Pop District will demonstrate the role that museums can and must play in their communities by serving as centers of innovation and catalysts of economic development,” said Steven Knapp, president and CEO of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
“This new district on the North Shore will also complement and amplify the vital role of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, to which it is directly joined by the Andy Warhol Bridge.”
New cultural tourism destination
The Richard King Mellon Foundation and Henry L. Hillman Foundation have committed a total of $25 million over the next four years.
“The Warhol team’s innovative strategy will make Pittsburgh a national leader in creating new cultural models for American cities,” said Sam Reiman, director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
“The goal of this project is to make sure the next Andy Warhol doesn’t have to leave Pittsburgh to become Andy Warhol.”
“The Warhol knows that art can change lives and art can change cities,” said David K. Roger, president of the Henry L. Hillman Foundation.
Images: Andy Warhol Museum
