Cultural Trust turns 40: Carol Brown's vision helped transform Pittsburgh's Downtown and its arts scene

By Patricia Sheridan / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It is hard to imagine that Downtown’s vibrant Cultural District was once part of a notorious red light district. 

“It was still the red light district when we opened the Benedum,” recalled Carol R. Brown, the first president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

“The building the Trust offices are in now on Liberty was a huge porn shop with signs all over the front saying, ‘adult movies, live nudes,’” she recalled.

There were at least 25 similar businesses up and down Liberty and Penn avenues at the time.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which now claims 14 revitalized blocks Downtown, celebrated its 40th anniversary last month by introducing the inaugural Icon Awards during a gala at the Benedum Center. The honorees were philanthropist Teresa Heinz, artist Thaddeus Mosley and Brown.

Heinz was recognized for taking the reins of the project to develop the Cultural District as chair of the Heinz Endowments when her husband, U.S. Sen. John Heinz III, was killed in a plane-helicopter crash over the suburbs of Philadelphia in April 1991. 

Mosley, a sculptor, was honored for representing the spirit of the Cultural Trust and promoting creativity and imagination locally.

But it was the indomitable spirit and intelligence of Brown that helped lead the way for the Cultural District and the city’s dynamic arts scene enjoyed by so many today.

“We had a general big picture approach when I started because Jack Heinz and the Heinz family had been working on it for several years, and they had an excellent urban planner from New York,” said Brown, referring to H.J. “Jack” Heinz II, father of Sen. John Heinz III. 

The transformation of Loews Penn Theater to Heinz Hall was the result of those early efforts in the 1970s by the Heinz family.

Jack Heinz got Brown involved, putting her on the original board in 1984 and then encouraging her to take the job of CEO. But he was worried about her having an office in the Cultural District.

“He thought it wasn’t safe because he thought some of the porn managers would resent the Trust,” she recalled. “He was very sweet and protective.”

Before the Trust was formed in 1984, Brown was working on public art projects in the LRT mass transit system’s Downtown stations. As chair of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, she was seeking grants to fund the kind of major art projects she felt were lacking in Pittsburgh. 

“That is when Jack began to talk to me about the arts and initially got me involved. None of this would have happened without the Heinz family originally,” she said.

“It was Jack Heinz’s idea. He was an amazing philanthropist,” she noted.

The first thing the Trust bought under Brown’s leadership was the Art Cinema movie theater, which became the Harris Theater. Working with the city, Brown and the Cultural Trust began targeting properties on Penn and Liberty avenues.

“We could not have done it without the strong support of the corporate and foundation communities,” she said.

“We needed a plan more directly related to the land that was available and the arts organizations we had.”

Brown felt very strongly that the Trust needed to work with large arts nonprofits such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Pittsburgh Opera.

The Trust made Heinz Hall the home of the PSO and turned the old Stanley Theater into the Benedum Center, which became the home of the PBT and CLO. The Trust established the O’Reilly Theater as home to the Pittsburgh Public Theater and created the Greer Cabaret Theater. The Cultural Trust is also a presenter of the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series. 

“That involved a huge amount of planning and collaboration with the organizations, but it was an opportunity to begin to do new work in Pittsburgh,” Brown said.

She started a series of presenting programs including the Festival of Firsts, which brought arts groups from all over the world to the city.

“That was about bringing new organizations to Pittsburgh for the first time,” she explained.

She also worked with the Pittsburgh Public Schools to create CAPA, the Downtown high school for the performing arts.

“That is one of the things I am most proud of when I see the CAPA school and the August Wilson [African American Cultural] Center,” she said. “Because they are not Cultural Trust facilities at all, but we helped them get started.”

Brown’s 20-year tenure as the Trust’s CEO changed the landscape of the arts in Pittsburgh, said Kevin McMahon, her successor.

“Carol proved the impossible was possible,” said McMahon, who retired in May 2022 after 21 years as CEO.

During McMahon’s tenure, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust took over the Three Rivers Arts Festival, which predated the Trust.

Then-Trust board president Jim Rohr was responsible for bringing McMahon to Pittsburgh in 2001 from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.

“Jim said to me, ‘Kevin, make it work,’” he recalled. 

There were some who doubted the Trust would be viable in the long run.

“I knew the ingredients were there and we wanted to make sure there was something for everyone,” McMahon said. “What I am most proud of was greatly expanding and diversifying all the offerings and going beyond what we already had.”

During his two decades of leadership, the Greer Cabaret Theater was established as well as the Space art gallery on Liberty Avenue. McMahon promoted programs incubating smaller arts organizations such as Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, Arcade Comedy Theater, Pittsburgh Dance Council and Liberty Magic.

McMahon oversaw the development of the Trust Arts Education Center Downtown and worked closely with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.

“We played the role of being one of the true leaders in helping to revitalize Downtown Pittsburgh,” he said. “The Trust was never just an arts organization.”

McMahon also helped bring an international flavor to Pittsburgh, with the Quebec Festival, Focus on Australia and the Distinctively Dutch Festival.

“The duck was hugely popular,” he said.

In 2013, a 40-foot tall art installation called “Rubber Duck” by Florentijn Hofman made its American debut in Pittsburgh on the Allegheny River.

“My takeaway from that was, we had 2 million people not realizing they were having an art experience. They were just having fun,” McMahon said, laughing. “It was great.”

Shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic stunted the progress of the Trust temporarily.

“Before COVID, we had upwards of 2 million people a year coming into the Cultural District to experience fun, entertainment, arts and culture and that is huge for a city our size,” he said.

McMahon passed the torch after 21 years of service to Kendra Whitlock Ingram, the current president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

“Kendra is doing a great job out there, hustling to get people back,” he said.

In her 20 months as CEO, Ingram has helped to bring attendance to the various Trust venues to 93% of what it was pre-pandemic. It is once again a primary Downtown activator, she said.

“The Cultural District serves as one of the main reasons, particularly post-pandemic, why people come Downtown. We do this through the performing and visual arts.”

Arts education, community engagement and bringing new cultural experiences to Pittsburgh is still the mission of the Cultural Trust.

“Is there a role for downtowns now that can be greater than just a central business district?” Ingram wondered.

“We think about how we create amenities in our public spaces and open spaces in addition to the theaters — which the people are very much interested in — but how do we get them to come down here when there is not an event?”

The Trust recently completed an analysis of its real estate portfolio to determine if all the properties are supporting their role as an arts organization and mission to bring culture to the people and people to the city.

“We won’t necessarily be making more acquisitions, but will concentrate on making better use of what we have such as the Backyard on 8th Street,” she said.

The Trust is currently working on creating more green space, outdoor performing spaces and public art.

“How can we create moments for people to enjoy iconic public art and moments of beauty and joy around the arts that maybe isn’t directly related to a specific event?” Ingram said.

“We look forward to the revitalization of Downtown and people recognizing what an amazing city this is. We are thrilled about the role we play in stimulating Downtown.” 

During the gala last month, Ingram had a chance to mingle with Brown. 

“I asked her if she could ever have imagined what the Cultural Trust has become and she said ‘Yes,’ without hesitating.

“Carol was a true visionary.”

 Patricia Sheridan: [email protected]