PA Humanities Names 50 Fellows to Inaugural Statewide Cultural Exchange

Selected from 350 applicants, fellows will receive $10,000 and participate in a statewide exchange designed to strengthen Pennsylvania’s humanities and creative network

PA Humanities announces the inaugural PA Cultural Exchange (PaX) Fellows, consisting of 50 extraordinary artists, storytellers, historians, educators, organizers, scholars, librarians, filmmakers, and other cultural leaders. The fellowship was created to strengthen and support cultural practitioners’ work and careers, help forge connections within the sector across regions and disciplines, and build a statewide network for learning, collaboration, and shared problem-solving. Through PaX, fellows will build lasting relationships, exchange ideas, and bring new perspectives and approaches back to the communities they serve.

Selected through a competitive process from 350 applications statewide, the fellows represent 23 counties from every region of the Commonwealth, reflecting the breadth of creative and humanities work already strengthening Pennsylvania communities.

The 18-month PA Cultural Exchange consists of three core elements: immersive cultural exchanges in three Pennsylvania regions, $10,000 to support each fellow’s individual practice, and the creation of a statewide network of cultural practitioners. PaX represents a direct $500,000 investment in Pennsylvania’s cultural sector. Over the course of the fellowship, each participant will gain knowledge and experience from peers while bringing new perspectives, connections, and approaches back to their own communities.

“Across Pennsylvania, people are bringing extraordinary ideas, creativity, and deep civic commitment to their communities,” said Laurie Zierer, Executive Director of PA Humanities. “PaX gives these cultural and civic leaders opportunities to learn from one another, expand their professional networks, and deepen their practice, while supporting the long-term growth and resiliency of a sector that has historically been underfunded and overlooked. By investing directly in people and connecting them statewide, PA Humanities is growing the relationships and shared capacity needed to create lasting impact in communities across Pennsylvania.”

PaX builds on PA Humanities’ more than 50 years of statewide leadership and, at its core, is a simple idea: Pennsylvania’s cultural practitioners are a vital community resource, and investing in their leadership and opportunities to learn from one another can generate new possibilities far beyond a single fellowship. An advisory group of cultural leaders and practitioners helped shape the fellowship’s design, learning exchanges, and statewide approach. The experience will help fellows deepen their practice, build and strengthen connections within their communities, and expand the professional networks and partnerships that support future collaboration, professional growth, and workforce development.

Based on years of research, evaluations, and grantmaking, PA Humanities created the fellowship program in response to the challenges cultural practitioners face in finding peers, resources, and opportunities beyond their immediate communities to expand their skills and develop the professional networks that can foster their creativity and sustain their careers. 

“Strong, creative communities are built through relationships, trust, and people who are deeply rooted in the places they serve,” said the Spring Point Partners team. “This inaugural cohort reflects a remarkable depth of cultural and community leadership across Pennsylvania. We’re proud to support PA Humanities in bringing these practitioners together, and we look forward to learning from them as they build relationships, exchange ideas, and strengthen their work to foster connection and belonging in their respective communities.”

“There is incredible creative talent across Southwestern Pennsylvania, but talent alone doesn’t always translate into access—to resources, relationships, or opportunities,” said Jasmin DeForrest, Managing Director of Arts & Culture at The Heinz Endowments. “PaX puts resources directly into the hands of cultural practitioners while connecting them to peers and ideas from across Pennsylvania. We’re proud to support this inaugural cohort and especially proud to see Southwestern Pennsylvania so strongly represented.”

Exchange Begins in Pittsburgh

The 50 fellows will come together for the first time September 24-26 in Pittsburgh, launching a series of three immersive Cultural Exchange Weekends designed around place, local history, community knowledge and cultural practice.

The Pittsburgh exchange will bring fellows into cultural spaces and neighborhoods across the region, including the Andy Warhol Museum, Rivers of Steel’s Carrie Blast Furnaces National Historic Landmark, Pittsburgh’s Hill District, and the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Fellows will experience local cultural work firsthand, meet practitioners and community leaders, participate in creative activities, reflect together on what those experiences might mean for their own communities and careers, and take home a toolkit and network for change that they can act on now and grow over the course of the fellowship.

Following Pittsburgh, fellows will gather in spring 2027 in the PA Wilds and in fall 2027 in York. Between exchanges, PA Humanities will convene virtual learning opportunities and small peer coaching groups to sustain relationships, share challenges and ideas, and support collaboration throughout the fellowship.

The PA Cultural Exchange is made possible through the generous support of Spring Point Partners and The Heinz Endowments, with additional support from Pennsylvania state legislators, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

Learn more about the PA Cultural Exchange and the inaugural fellows at pahumanities.org/pax.

2026–2027 PA Cultural Exchange Fellows

• Tailinh Agoyo (Philadelphia County)
• Sobia Ahmad (Allegheny County)
• Kelly Armor (Erie County)
• Corey Carrington (Allegheny County)
• Jasmine Cho (Allegheny County)
• Vanessa Codorniu (Dauphin County)
• Jeannine A. Cook (Philadelphia County)
• Karina Dandashi (Allegheny County)
• Lazaro Delgado (Lancaster County)
• Adam DePaul (Monroe County)
• Kelly Dessoye (Luzerne County)
• Camila Carolina Romero dos Santos (Philadelphia County)
• Eric Dusenbery (York County)
• Ainsley Wynn Eakins (Philadelphia County)
• Kimberly Ellis (Allegheny County)
• Sarah Farbo (Northumberland County)
• Clare Finin (Delaware County)
• Amara Geffen (Crawford County)
• Lisa Glover (Wayne County)
• Max Gonzales (Allegheny County)
• Jetta Harrison (Northumberland County)
• Wilfredo Hernandez (Philadelphia County)
• Kenneth Hong (Chester County)
• Angela (Medina) Jackson (Allegheny County)
• Kristen Janci (Beaver County)
• James Jordan (Lehigh County)
• Aisha Khan (Philadelphia County)
• DS Kinsel (Allegheny County)
• Tannis Kowalchuk (Wayne County)
• Kuwame Kinsel (Allegheny County)
• Laura Knorr (Columbia County)
• Robert Lewis (Erie County)
• Julie Mader (McKean County)
• LaNeshe Miller-White (Delaware County)
• Barb Mitchell (Cambria County)
• Eric Cesar Morales (Philadelphia County)
• Samuel Price (Mifflin County)
• Erica Quinn (Centre County)
• Alexandria Raymond (Philadelphia County)
• Kathryn Rose (Allegheny County)
• Mabel Rosenheck (Lancaster County)
• Ren Schaeffer (York County)
• Yuri Seung (Philadelphia County)
• Andrew Smith (Adams County)
• Tayyib Smith (Philadelphia County)
• Kristal Sotomayor (Philadelphia County)
• Andrea Walls (Philadelphia County)
• Asia Ward (Lawrence County)
• Carmin Wong (Centre County)
• Raphael Xavier (Philadelphia County)