The Scale Fellowship

PROMOTING THE ADVANCEMENT OF BLACK WOMEN IN MUSIC

​The SCALE Fellowship is designed to provide individualized artist development, entrepreneurial skill-building curriculum, and intentional opportunities for Black women in music to connect, share, learn, grow, and collaborate. The program will feature well-known artists like Rachel Cargle, The Great Unlearn, and Eritza Lauer, grammy award winning songwriter, as well as local professionals, artists, and arts organizations. Each cohort will accept up to 8 participants for the 8-month residency program and provide Fellows with a financial award for acceptance into the program along with additional funds for: equipment, technology, business development, recording, branding, and legal support. SCALE will support Black women in music who are artist entrepreneurs in designing business structures along with space to create work and perfect their craft. The program will provide resources (knowledge, network, financial, space) as well as the support, both structural and strategic, needed to develop a sustainable career path and overcome the challenges that exist for Black artists in Pittsburgh.

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About the Program
The SCALE Fellowship intends to:
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create an affirmative space for Black women in music to connect

provide financial support to Black women in music

provide a platform to showcase Black women in music

improve the entrepreneurial skill-set and business acumen of Black women in music

support the development of an equity-centered, inclusive and elevating local music ecosystem

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This project stems from a collaboration of multiple partners intending to develop a comprehensive program that provides both immediate and ongoing support to the artists along with opportunities for growth and advancement. Our collective understands the importance and necessity of cross-sector, multilayered collaboration from individuals with both expertise and lived experience, including:

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• working artists & musicians that have a national and global platform
• those with proven experience in designing and implementing programs that support artist entrepreneurs
• creative industry professional service providers
• producers & engineers
• songwriters and artist development managers
• technology expertise for virtual platforms

Program Experts, Panelists, Coaches, and Facilitators Include:

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• Sondra E. Woodruff II; Musician, Songwriter, Educator, Artist Management
• Leigh Solomon Pugliano; Musician, Educator, Business Strategist
• David Pugliano; Entrepreneur, DJ, Producer
• Jackie Walker; Entrepreneur, Attorney for the Creative Industry
• Rachel Cargle; Founder The Great Unlearn and The Loveland Foundation
• Eritza Laues; Grammy Award Winning Songwriter
• James Brown; Program Director, YMCA Lighthouse
• Brittany Blackwell; Black Women in Music Research Firm
• Tanisha Jackson; Attorney, Writer, Music Historian

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SCALE is developed by Straightforward Consulting and Limelight Studios in collaboration with partners like YMCA Lighthouse, Barrels to Beethoven, and collaborative insight from Black women in the music and creative arts industry. The SCALE Fellowship is supported by the Arts, Equity, Reimagined Fund and Advancing Black Arts Program, an initiative of the Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh Foundation, and The Opportunity Fund. The program will launch on February 18th 2021. The inaugural program is open to Black women in the Pittsburgh region.

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Apply

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The application opens on November 27th, 2020 and closes on December 31st, 2020. Applicants will be notified by January 15th of their acceptance into the program. Click below in the form below.