Submissions are open for the 3rd Annual Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh juried art exhibition.
In 2023 and 2024, Carnegie Museums, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh, 1Hood Media, and the August Wilson African American Cultural Center joined together to launch Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh, an inclusive call for art that encouraged artists throughout southwestern Pennsylvania to share their visions for a just and equitable Pittsburgh. We are excited, once more, to call all members of the Pittsburgh community at large to submit creative works of all kinds to help us envision a just Pittsburgh. Submissions close on Sunday, November 2, 2025.
Theme
Whose stories get told and why are storytellers/writers, books, histories, and archives paramount to a more just world and a just Pittsburgh? This year’s Envisioning A Just Pittsburgh call is seeking work that grapples with the question of how libraries and archives (community, public or private) can serve as conduits of education, storytelling, artistry, and activism. The definition of archives is a place in which public records or historical materials (such as documents) are preserved. We know that libraries, universities and museums have archives, but so do individual people through family heirlooms, pictures, videos and letters. We encourage the interpretation of archives and libraries to include institutions and personal collections.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, like many cities, struggles with racial and class inequities, environmental (in)justice, and the lack of recognition and importance of historical figures, monuments, and sites that represent minoritized cultures and groups. To correct history we must know history, and to know history we must have documentation in some form: This is where books, archives, and storytelling can play a pivotal role on the road to justice.
We invite community members to submit creative works that are prompted by how libraries, archives, and material histories (institutional, personal, or communal) can serve as conduits for envisioning and realizing a more equitable and just Pittsburgh. We encourage folks to express themselves boldly and authentically and use their art to encourage, challenge, and educate others.
