Finalists have been announced for the inaugural "Work of Art Awards" being issued May 24 to celebrate the people and businesses supporting and creating art in the Pittsburgh region.

The ceremony is sponsored by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, with help from Mellon Financial Corp., and will be held at the New Hazlett Theater on the North Side, followed by a reception at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.

Award finalists include:

For the "Advances in Capacity Building" award, City Theatre and Cast of Caterers; Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Nartak Media Group; and Union Project and CMU's Institute for the Management of Creative Enterprises.

For "Excellence in Audience Development," City Theater, Dick's Sporting Goods, Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival and Wall to Wall Studios; and Tickets for Kids Foundation and Toshiba Business Solutions.

For "Arts Educator," Lois Clark of Kelly Elementary School; Robert O'Keefe, retired principal of Dilworth Traditional Academy; and Roger Tabler of Pittsburgh Youth Pops Orchestra.

Other awards will include the Mayor's Award for Public Art, the Chairman's Award, Volunteer of the Year, and a People's Choice honor.

Tickets to the 5:30 p.m. ceremony are $30 for arts council members and $60 for nonmembers and guests. Tickets for the 7 p.m. reception only are $20.

To reserve tickets call ProArts Tickets at 412-394-3353 or www.workofartawards.com.

NEA grants

Arts groups throughout Pittsburgh won 2007 grants yesterday from the National Endowment for the Arts.

They include $10,000 to Associated Artists of Pittsburgh for exhibitions at Carnegie Museum of Art; $30,000 to the August Wilson Center for African American Culture to support new art; $25,000 to the Carnegie Institute to conserve Andy Warhol audio and video tapes; $25,000 to Pittsburgh Filmmakers for high-definition video training; $20,000 to Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy to conserve the Frick Fine Arts Building fountain in Schenley Park; $25,000 to Pittsburgh Symphony Society to support "A Celebration of Wilkinsburg"; $25,000 to Manchester Craftsmen's Guild to support MCG Jazz presentations; $35,000 to Carnegie Mellon University for Arts Greenhouse and $20,000 for Architecture Building Communities; and $5,000 to the Society for American Music for a radio documentary on actor and musician Bert Williams.

-- Tim McNulty, Post-Gazette staff writer