Artistic Infusion for August Wilson Center
Pittsburgh, Jan. 7, 2016 Six nonprofits will receive grants from a special Pittsburgh Foundation fund to create dance productions, monologue competitions, summer camps and more, adding to an increasingly robust programming schedule at the reopened August Wilson Center. The grants, which range from $25,000 to $75,000, will be disbursed from the Foundation’s Programming Fund for the August Wilson Center, which was created last summer to support independent cultural and educational productions at the arts and cultural space Downtown.
The Foundation invited 60 regional organizations to submit ideas for projects at the Center focused on the art, culture and history of African Americans and the African Diaspora. Grant recipients were chosen by a five-person panel of regionally and nationally acclaimed professional artists. The recipients are:
- Balafon West African Dance Ensemble, to present workshops and a full dance theater production based on August Wilson’s play, “Gem of the Ocean.”
- Bill Nunn Theatre Outreach Project, to host a regional August Wilson monologue competition.
- Hiawatha Project, to present an original theater production of “John Henry: Mechanics of a Legend.”
- Reed Dance, to support a two-week Summer Camp Residency for youth.
- Silver Eye Center for Photography, to produce an original solo exhibition of the photographs and videos of Braddock native and MacArthur Fellow LaToya Ruby Frazier.
- ToonSeum, to mount the exhibition “Thin Black Line: Civil Rights in Comics and Cartoons.”
“The wide range of great ideas submitted as a part of this process emphatically demonstrates the depth of knowledge and interest in African American art and culture that exists in the region,” said Germaine Williams, senior program officer for Arts and Culture at the Foundation. “This promises to be an exciting year at the Wilson Center.”
Maxwell King, the Foundation’s president and CEO said the grants will help take the Center’s programming to a higher level. “Pittsburgh is stronger when we celebrate African American culture and art, and the quality of these submissions demonstrate the value of the Wilson Center as a community asset.”
The Center, which was rescued from bankruptcy in 2014 by The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Heinz Endowments and the Richard King Mellon Foundation, has seen a marked increase in bookings over the past year. Other contributors to programming include the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and AWC Renewal Inc., a nonprofit organization formed to encourage and provide community-based programming. The results of these collaborations have been well-reviewed performances, growing financial stability and new community leaders joining the process. These include business leaders Michael Polite and Ralph Falbo joining the governing board, as well as a series of new members joining the board of AWC Renewal: James Abraham, a local business and nonprofit attorney; Clarence Dozier, Director of Litigation & Risk Management at FedEx Ground; Arden Phillips, Corporate Secretary & Associate General Counsel at U.S. Steel Corp.; Rex Rideout, Vice President of AR Records; and activist and hip hop artist Jasiri X. AWC Renewal’s board is chaired by Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph K. Williams III.
About the August Wilson Center:
Opened to the public in 2009, the state-of-the-art performing and visual arts facility in downtown Pittsburgh supports an impressive array of programming. The 65,000 square foot LEED-certified building houses a 486-seat auditorium, several exhibition galleries, technology-enhanced classrooms and a community meeting space. Now under a management agreement with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, the facility is supported by an experienced staff and is available as a community venue for all types of programming.
About The Pittsburgh Foundation:
Established in 1945, The Pittsburgh Foundation is one of the nation’s oldest community foundations and is the 13th largest of more than 750 community foundations across the United States. As a community foundation, its resources comprise endowment funds established by individuals, businesses and organizations with a passion for charitable giving and a deep commitment to the Pittsburgh community. The Foundation currently has more than 2,000 individual donor funds and, together with its supporting organizations, assets of more than $1.14 billion. Grantmaking benefits a broad spectrum of community life within Pittsburgh and beyond. Learn more at www.pittsburghfoundation.org.