In a step to promote smaller performance and gallery spaces, the Trust developed the Storefront Arts Initiative. Two new highlights of the initiative included a storefront "working laboratory" at 801 Liberty Avenue, entitled Future Tenant, for Carnegie Mellon University Graduate School of Fine Arts, and Urban Space Gallery at 709 Penn Avenue, a performance venue and exhibition space for the urban arts cooperative BridgeSpotters.

Poet Toi Derricotte, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh and a Guggenheim fellow, reads poetry in celebration of the first-ever National Performing Arts Convention, in the Urban Space gallery. Photo by Renee Rosensteel

In June 2003, the Trust purchased 937 Liberty Avenue from Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. This acquisition was made possible in part through generous funding from The Heinz Endowments to encourage multiple artists and arts organizations to use the affordable space for developing projects that contribute to the artistic quality of the Cultural District. Performances and exhibits at 937 Liberty included the Teeny Harris photography exhibit during the Urban League Conference in July 2003, productions by Prime Stage Theatre cultivating young adult and children audiences, and First Night performances.

Formerly a Turkish bathhouse and adult bookstore, 937 Liberty is now a multiuse performance and exhibit space, plus administrative offices for arts organizations, creating a thriving arts venue in the District. Photo by Chris Rolinson

At the end of 2003, the Trust began a major façade renovation of 812-818 Liberty Avenue, a building acquired by the Trust in November 2002. The renovation of the five-story property was made possible through a generous grant from The Buhl Foundation, as well as funding support from the Urban Redevelopment Authority Downtown Façade Restoration Program. This project marks the seventh façade in the Cultural District that the Trust has refurbished to stimulate growth in the Liberty and Penn Avenue corridor. The ground floor of 812 Liberty Avenue is now the home of SPACE, the Trust's newest visual arts gallery showcasing regional and local artists, which opened in February 2004.

The ground floor retail of 812 Liberty Avenue was formerly occupied by adult bookstores; the building now houses one of the most cutting-edge galleries in the region.