Center for Civic Arts

Center for Civic Art’s (CfCA) mission is to identify and invest in irreplaceable historic and cultural assets that foster community revitalization.  Civic Arts preserves the past for the future.

Reimagining the future of Western Pennsylvania’s Rust Belt Legacy Cities (cities where industry disappeared and population declined), has those of us working in the field of preservation, reexamining how to engage a more inclusive audience in ways that make “preservation” socially just not rules and regulation. Preservation does not focus solely on architecture.  There are tangible and ephemeral preservation strategies that mean a lot to people and neighborhoods, and that revitalize communities through civic engagement and dialogue.

The Untold Story Quilt Project was created to collect, archive and celebrate Wilkinsburg’s Black Heritage which has been largely neglected in Wilkinsburg’s archives.  Story quilts are a traditional African American artform centered on often-told stories of slavery and segregation, culture and community. The Untold Story Quilt Project’s volunteers decide who will be celebrated on the quilt, recommending noteworthy individuals known within their social networks but not widely known. Each individual who is celebrated, also has a folder documenting that individual’s legacy that will be scanned and uploaded on the Power PA Library site.

To date, 26 volunteer quilters have spent over 36 hours each residency learning how to sew and enjoying the social engagement of the quilting circle.  There have been 5 artist residencies, often held in churches, for a total of 936 volunteer hours of sewing to create the current Untold Stories Quilt Project. Today the Project has completed 30 - 16”x16” quilt squares honoring 30 individuals. Based on community demand, we plan to increase the number of honorees to 42.  The 2025 artist in residency will be led by Pittsburgh fabric artist Christine Bethea (https://pittsburghfoundation.org/cmcbethea).

Past funding: The Opportunity Fund, The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media, The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Wish List, and anonymous donor.