Shiftworks Community + Public Arts envisions a region in which the creative practices of artists are fully engaged to collaboratively shape the public realm and catalyze community-led change. Shiftworks builds capacity for this work through civically engaged public art, artist resources, public programming, and technical assistance.
Artist residencies
Shiftworks facilitates artist residencies in the public realm in partnership with organizations and communities in the Pittsburgh region. Shiftworks’ residency program is grounded in civic practice, where artists and community members co-create projects intended to serve the community’s self-defined needs.
Professional development
The Pittsburgh Creative Corps is an artist-centered workforce development program that cultivates vibrant, community-engaged public art through commissions, civic engagement, and training. The program is an initiative established by Shiftworks and Riverlife. Originally created in response to the city’s inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Corps was designed to respond to urgent and timely needs, and to rapidly commission artists and creative workers to develop projects to address those needs.
Shiftworks also hosts a variety of different educational trainings for artists who are interested in working in the public realm. Offerings include full-day intensive sessions, hands-on workshops, and visits to fabricators.