FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECorey Carrington | Photo: James Schaffer	  Corey Carrington Selected As Inaugural Emerging Black Arts Leaders ApprenticeContemporary Craft Program Promotes Increased Diversity in Museum Employment	  • The Society for Contemporary Craft’s (SCC) Emerging Black Arts LeadersApprenticeship – now in its inaugural year – addresses the staggering underrepresentationof African-Americans on museum staffs by awarding a one-year, paid apprenticeship to atalented emerging arts leader of color.
•The 2016/2017 apprenticeship recipient, Corey Carrington, will be embedded within theday-to-day, interdepartmental operations and artistic programming at SCC fromWednesday, September 7, 2016 through August 2017.

•Carrington is a writer, artist, and change-maker living in Pittsburgh, PA. He hasexperience working in nonprofit administration, arts education, and community outreach.

•The Emerging Black Arts Leaders position is generously funded by the OpportunityFund.	  
- more 	  Corey	   Carrington, 2PITTSBURGH, PA – September 6, 2016 – The Society for Contemporary Craft (SCC), a StripDistrict-based arts nonprofit committed to providing creative experiences through contemporarycraft, today announced the selection of Corey Carrington has its first Emerging Black ArtsLeaders Apprentice. This new position builds upon the organization’s demonstrated success inenhancing the development of future arts leaders through a variety of scholarship and internshipprograms. Through on-the-job training in a professional arts organization, Carrington will gainthe artistic and business skills required to succeed in a highly competitive field. The programalso provides mentoring from SCC staff and artists, professional development, and networkingopportunities within the regional arts community.
The creation of the Emerging Black Arts Leader program is in direct response to a 2015 surveyof diversity in American art museums conducted by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation inpartnership with the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Alliance ofMuseums. The report illustrated a troubling underrepresentation of people of color on museumstaffs, with only 4% of museum curators, conservators, and educators identifying as AfricanAmerican. SCC’s new apprenticeship addresses this staggering disparity by awarding this oneyear position, which pays a monthly stipend, to a talented emerging arts leader of color.
“We are committed to providing employment and mentoring opportunities for young individualsof color,” says SCC Executive Director Janet McCall. “By ensuring these emerging artsmanagers are prepared to successfully enter the leadership pipeline, we are ensuring a futurewhere the demographics of museum employees more closely match the vibrant diversity of oursociety as a whole.”ABOUT COREY CARRINGTONCorey Carrington is a writer, artist, and change-maker living in Pittsburgh’s North Sideneighborhood. Carrington’s background includes experience in nonprofit administration and artseducation. He has held positions with the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board,Community College of Allegheny County, Allegheny Youth Development, and GTECHStrategies among others. An accomplished poet and visual artist, Carrington is deeply involvedwith Pittsburgh’s spoken word community, and uses his creative practice to effect positive socialchange while exploring themes of identity and connectivity. He received his high school diplomafrom Perry Traditional Academy (Pittsburgh, PA) in 2006, and earned a BS in Communicationsand Creative Writing from Slippery Rock University in 2011.
“The Emerging Black Arts Leaders Apprenticeship is a career enhancing and potentially lifechanging opportunity that I am truly thankful for,” says Carrington. “The apprenticeship willhelp me accomplish my goals of becoming a professional arts administrator, expanding mynetwork, and increasing the visibility of Black people and people of color within the artscommunity.”- more -Corey	   Carrington, 3The Emerging Black Arts Leaders position was advertised nationally beginning in June 2016.
The final applicant pool was small but mighty, with the impressive caliber of the candidatesserving as a clear testament to the necessity of programs like this to offer a level playing field atcritical career entry points.
"The A.W. Mellon Foundation’s report on museum diversity was a call-to-action thatContemporary Craft is perhaps the first to strategically answer through the Emerging Black ArtsLeaders Apprenticeship," says the Opportunity Fund's Executive Director, Jake Goodman. "Weare thrilled to support the inaugural year of this pioneering program, which will help build thepipeline of talented Black arts leaders, like Corey Carrington."ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY FUNDThe Emerging Black Arts Leaders program is generously supported by the Opportunity Fund(www.theopportunityfund.org). The Opportunity Fund awards grants to organizations andinitiatives that advance the arts, and social and economic justice. At least 75% of its grants areawarded to projects that benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Community. Funding areas include:performing arts, with an emphasis on theater, dance and music, especially classical chambermusic and jazz, presented by small to mid-sized arts organizations; visual arts, with an emphasison craft and small to mid-sized arts organizations; civil liberties; civil rights, with special interestin equality for African-Americans, LGBTQ people, and other minorities; human rights;reproductive freedom; and safety net resources for people in need, including social services,economic independence, housing, tangible aid, transportation, and healthcare.
ABOUT CONTEMPORARY CRAFTPresenting contemporary art in craft media by regional, national, and international artists since1971, the Society for Contemporary Craft (SCC) offers cutting edge exhibitions focusing onmulticultural diversity and non-mainstream art, as well as a range of studio workshops,community outreach programs, and a retail store. Through its mission of engaging the public increative experiences through contemporary craft, SCC offers meaningful art opportunities formore than 145,000 people a year through four core values: providing vital support forartists; filling critical gaps in public education; sharing cross cultural perspectives; and using artto build community. SCC is located at 2100 Smallman Street in the Strip District of Pittsburgh,PA. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The satellite gallery is locatedin the “T” station lobby of BNY Mellon Center in downtown Pittsburgh, and is open daily from6:00 am through midnight. Exhibitions and informal, hands-on art activities in the Drop-InStudio are always free to the public. For more information, visit www.contemporarycraft.org orcall 412.261.7003.

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