The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (PCT), a nonprofit focused on the urban revitalisation of the Pennsylvania city via the arts, will open a four-acre sculpture park called Arts Landing in 2026. The $31m project is part of a transformative $600m government plan to rejuvenate the previously dilapidated cultural district. The goal is for the park to act as an “energising force” for Pittsburgh, says Kendra Whitlock Ingram, president and chief executive of the PCT.
“We see Arts Landing as a powerful connector for downtown—bringing people together, celebrating local arts and culture, and boosting downtown activation,” Ingram tells The Art Newspaper. “It will be a space where community thrives, artists and performers are showcased, and small businesses benefit from increased foot traffic.”
Arts Landing’s inaugural public art programming will feature ten artists with ties to the region. These include the Pittsburgh-based Vanessa German, whose work Lifted will honour the legacies of Pittsburgh’s elders in the form of a series of benches amalgamated with sculptures cast from the hand tracings of local centenarians.
Memory and intergenerational storytelling are common threads throughout the commissions. Anastasia James, the PCT’s director of galleries and public art, emphasises that she did not ask artists to make work referencing Pittsburgh specifically. Rather, she says she wanted to “think deeply about Pittsburgh’s cultural history—why it has birthed and inspired so many artists, and what makes it unique”.
“It is beautiful that the programme became rooted in Pittsburgh. It is the foundation of the programme, but just the starting point,” James adds. “The goal was to create a space that feels welcoming and gives people entry points through public art. If someone is at the park and happens to run into art, I want them to be able to connect with it.”
Thaddeus Mosley’s Gate III (2022) in City Hall Park, New York City
Photo: Nicholas Knight, courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY
Most of the sculptures will be on view for at least a year. Looking ahead, the new park aims to “evolve into a place where Pittsburgh connects with the world”, bringing in artists whose work “can expand the programme while maintaining close dialogue with the local context and communities”.
Arts Landing has secured several partnerships, including with the Public Art Fund to bring the exhibition Touching the Earth by Thaddeus Mosley to Pittsburgh at the end of its run at City Hall Park in New York City (until 16 November). The Pittsburgh-based artist, who celebrates his 100th birthday next year, presents eight bronzes and wood sculptures made between 1996 and 2021, referencing Western African masks, jazz and Modernism.
The Public Art Fund partnership “opens the door for future large-scale projects to come to Pittsburgh”, James says. It also marks a homecoming for Mosley, who has lived and worked in Pittsburgh throughout his life. “The response to his work is unbelievable,” James adds. “I think people will be in awe.”
Other highlights include a presentation by Darian Johnson in partnership with VaultArt Studio, a nonprofit supporting artists with disabilities and advocating their inclusion in the contemporary art world. Johnson will create a series of sculptures based on native Pennsylvania wildlife in the form of a cast-aluminium raccoon, bear and snail that are tactical and installed at ground level.
“Artists with disabilities are rarely included in conversations about public art, even though they have incredible visions and perspectives,” James says. “I wanted to prove that this is possible. You just have to make the effort to do it.”
Rendering of the future Arts Landing, Pittsburgh
Field Operations, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Meanwhile the artist John Peña, in partnership with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (where he was an artist-in-residence), will present the interactive Rotating Weather Sculpture, a kinetic work with an ecologically conscious bend that shows the temperature and weather. It is a “kid-tested work” that adults and children alike can engage with.
The New York-based landscape architecture firm Field Operations, best-known for projects like the High Line and Brooklyn’s Domino Park, will spearhead Arts Landing with an emphasis on native and sustainable plants. One acre of the site will contain a lawn that slopes downwards to a permanent bandshell with views of the Allegheny River and the Three Sisters bridges. There will also be three pickleball courts, the first-ever playground in downtown Pittsburgh, garden trails and a visitor centre.
A soft opening is planned for April 2026, coinciding with the National Football League Draft, when between 500,000 and 700,000 people are expected to visit Pittsburgh.
“One of my goals is to put Pittsburgh on the global stage in a way that feels authentic, rooted and collaborative—not only with artists but with other art institutions,” James says. “Our role is to create space for conversations, elevate diverse voices and help realise the ambitious visions artists bring to the table. I hope this programme becomes a site of exchange.”
