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The Changing Face Of Art And Philanthropy In Pittsburgh

Margaret Sun
/
90.5 WESA
Flowery wreaths adorn the entrance to St. Paul's Cathedral two days after Easter services. The historic church was host to more than 2,000 mourners at the funeral mass of Steelers' chairman Dan Rooney on Tuesday, April 18, 2017.

The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s weekly news program.

Each week, reporters, editors and bloggers join veteran journalist and host Kevin Gavin to take an in-depth look at the stories important to the Pittsburgh region.

Two giants of Pittsburgh philanthropy and culture, Henry Hillman and Dan Rooney, died within hours of each other. Reporters NatashaLindstrom of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and SeanHamill of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette discuss how the combined loss of Julius Youngner, Thomas Starzl -- plus Elsie Hillman, Richard Mellon Scaife and others before them -- could shift the role benefactors have historically played in the Steel City, and what we can learn from modern foundations about how to fill their monetary void in the decades to come.

Threats to arts funding at the state and federal levels are worrying some Pittsburgh-area advocates. Pittsburgh City Paper's Bill O'Driscoll joins us in studio with J.C. Lee from PennLive in by phone.

It's been 25 years since advocates filed a complaint alleging a pattern of racial discrimination against Pittsburgh Public Schools. Current Superintendent Anthony Hamlet promises a new day. Molly Born of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains how school officials are communicating renewed hopes of fairness to families, and answers whether any effort been made to acknowledge past harm.

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