FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[Pittsburgh, PA, August 27, 2025] – ALMA | LEWIS (A | L) is thrilled to announce its Founder, Executive Director and Chief Curator Kilolo Luckett has received a Teiger Foundation grant supporting three years of programming. Luckett is among 85 curators and 54 institutions across the United States to receive a grant as part of the Foundation’s 2025 Call for Proposals.
The Teiger Foundation grant program advances innovative curatorial practice in contemporary art, supporting projects beyond traditional art centers—from rural Mississippi and Appalachia to Hawai‘i and Puerto Rico—that engage with the environmental, political, and cultural contexts of their local communities.
This year, the Foundation awarded $7 million to US curators at organizations of all sizes to conduct research, mount exhibitions, and host touring shows; and curators at organizations with budgets of $3.5 million and below to realize three years of programming.
“Curators play a critical role in shaping cultural narratives, we are proud to support this dynamic and diverse cohort of leaders,” said Larissa Harris, Executive Director of Teiger Foundation. “We’re excited to support an expanded range of curatorial voices across geography, experience, and institutional scale, underscoring our belief that critical, ambitious work is happening in every corner of the country. These new programs allow us to meet curators where they are, respond to the evolving needs of the field, and ensure that artists and communities have the thoughtful stewardship they deserve.”
“I am thrilled for this exciting opportunity to delve deeper into my curatorial practice of experimentation, research, and exploration through expanded exhibition-making and archival work in support of ALMA | LEWIS’s mission as a contemporary art platform,” said Luckett. “This support will help our organization continue to evolve as a center for art, history, and narrative-building by allowing us to grow our artist fellowship and exhibition programs, create a dedicated space for The Black Archive, and improve our accessibility and visibility in the community. I look forward to expanding our ability to provide opportunities for critical thinking and meaningful conversations centering Black culture.”
Founded in 2017 and opened to the public in 2021, ALMA | LEWIS (A | L) is housed in a converted industrial building in one of Pittsburgh’s most racially and economically diverse neighborhoods. Beginning in fall 2025, A | L will triple its footprint to expand its capacity to provide fellowships, exhibitions, public programs, and archival research to artists of the African Diaspora.
Photo by Tara Geyer, Courtesy ALMA | LEWIS.
This three-year programming grant from the Foundation will support A | L through this significant transition period, during which Luckett will also develop A | L’s program alongside its physical space. In fall 2025, a solo show by interdisciplinary artist Élan Cadiz will close out the current gallery space. The gallery will reopen in fall 2026 with a survey of Cecil McDonald, Jr., whose photography and time-based work reflects on Black domestic life, masculinity, and performance. The reopening will coincide with a new three-month fellowship program with Sharbreon Plummer and Layo Bright as the inaugural cohort. In spring 2027, A | L will present a solo exhibition by Rashaun Rucker, whose drawings, prints, and sculptures link racial profiling and urban ecosystems through layered visual symbolism.
Throughout the renovation phase, the ongoing program Slow Listening Sessions will host closed-door gatherings, ranging from virtual studio visits to wellness check-ins and peer critiques. The Black Archive, a non-circulating research library of 1,000+ books, ephemera, and artworks, will expand into a dedicated reading room serving as a material resource for artists, local scholars, and the broader public. The Black Archive Series, a new public program pairing objects with talks by scholars and artists will launch in January 2026.
The complete list of grantees can be found at teigerfoundation.org.
About ALMA | LEWIS
ALMA | LEWIS is an experimental contemporary art platform dedicated to Black culture, fostering critical thinking, dialogue, and creative expression. Through artist residencies, world-class exhibitions, and the Black Archive—a research space featuring rare books, publications, and artifacts—ALMA | LEWIS provides a foundation for artists, scholars, and writers to engage deeply with Black history and culture. Serving as both a home and a hub within the broader arts ecosystem, ALMA | LEWIS is committed to sustaining rigorous artistic practices and presenting transformative work that challenges and expands the intersection of art and equity.
| Website: www.almalewis.org | Instagram: @almalewis |
| For media inquiries, please contact: | |
| Victoria MacLaren | |
About Teiger Foundation
Teiger Foundation advances innovative curatorial practice in contemporary art. Through its grantmaking initiatives, Teiger Foundation aims to catalyze positive change within the field through its support of curatorial projects that further new research, broaden opportunities for diversity and inclusion, and embrace more sustainable practices.
Established by collector and art patron David Teiger (1929–2014) in 2008, the Foundation honors the spirit of its late founder who acted as an advocate for contemporary curators pursuing ambitious, innovative, and unconventional projects. The Foundation moved into a new phase of activity following the posthumous sale of Teiger’s collection in 2018–19. Between 2020 and 2022, the Foundation distributed a total of $8 million, supporting artistic leadership and curators at nonprofit institutions; curator-led coalitions and initiatives that support and challenge the field of visual art; as well as COVID relief efforts that helped artists and cultural workers in need. 2023 brought the Foundation’s first Call for Proposals and climate action pilot, both of which have now become central programs of the Foundation’s grant-giving and support efforts.
| Website: teigerfoundation.org | Instagram: @teigerfoundation |
| PRESS CONTACTS | |
| Caterina Berardi
Director, Cultural Counsel |
Alexander Droesch
Senior Account Executive, Cultural Counsel |