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‘The Pop District’ from The Andy Warhol Museum will feature a larger cultural hub for live music, events, public art, expanded programming and a home for creative workplace development
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 24 May 2022
The Pop District will aim to be a new culture hub for the city of Pittsburgh Credit: Andy Warhol Museum
The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, has announced that it will spearhead a major new cultural and economic development project that will see a six-block section of the neighbourhood surrounding the museum transformed into a hub for cultural programming and creative workforce development.
Known as ‘The Pop District’, the US$60m (€56.2m, £47.75m) project - master planned by the DC-based SmithGroup - will “use the power of public art, digital media production, live music and performance to create a museum-led destination in the city where Andy Warhol was born”.
Split over two development phases rolled out over the next ten years, Phase One will cost up to US$40m (€37.5m, £31.8m) and will feature new education programmes developed outside of the museum, a public art component, innovative partnerships and real estate investments. Additional public art installations by two Pittsburgh-based artists, scheduled for completion this summer, are also underway.
Starting in 2024, Phase Two of The Pop District will include further fundraising as part of a capital campaign across the entire Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, to finance the construction of a new flagship live performance venue for concerts, performances, events and community rental spaces.
Additionally, The Pop District will feature community spaces and public programs accessible to the local community, including new green spaces, revitalised alleyways and streetscape and closer connections to Pittsburgh’s riverfront assets.
"Andy continues to be emblematic of the American entrepreneurial spirit - a true agent of influence and change,” said museum director, Patrick Moore.
“We now have the plan and resources to follow suit as an agent of change for Pittsburgh and 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 Pop District’s annual economic impact is projected at more than US$100m (€93.7m, £79.6m), driven by 50,000-75,000 new visitors to Pittsburgh’s North Shore each year.
According to Steven Knapp, president and CEO of the Warhol Museum’s parent organisation, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, the physical and programmatic expansion of The Warhol will be the catalyst for creative placemaking and economic transformation through the arts.
"The Pop District will demonstrate the role that museums can and must play in their communities by serving as centres of innovation and catalysts of economic development,” said Knapp.
“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."
The Richard King Mellon Foundation and Henry L. Hillman Foundation are kickstarting the project, providing lead gifts totalling US$25m (€23.4m, £19.9m). Response to the project has been favourable in the city, with endorsements from city, state and local community groups.
Culture
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