Current Programs

Saturdays, June 5, 12, 19 and 26
Noon to 1:30 pm
Education Center, FREE

Explore African American literature and culture at these family read-alouds; each featuring a reading of a special children's book and a related art activity. Appropriate for ages 4 and older. Preregistration is required. For information, call 412.258.2700.

June 26, 2010

The Secret Olivia Told Me
By N. Joy

Can you keep a secret? Olivia has a secret - a BIG secret. It's a secret that she tells only to her very best friend. And her friend promises she won't say a word. But the secret is really BIG and really juicy. What will happen when a trusted friend slips and the secret gets out? Also from the Center's education department, Charlene Weaver and her grandson will lead.

offCenter
Deadline: July 4, 2010
Thursdays - July through September 2010


Honorarium: Small honorarium for evening performers
Eligibility: All independent artists 21+ working in performance based art in sync with the Center's mission to preserving, presenting, interpreting, celebrating and shaping the art, culture and history of African Americans in Western Pennsylvania and people of African descent throughout the world.

The August Wilson Center is filling the schedule for its summer entertainment series and is currently seeking emerging, hip, up and coming performance artists, musicians or acts for its Thursday performance series called "offCenter". There are three opportunities to perform on Thursdays: Lunchtime (11 am to 2 pm), after work (5:30 to 8 pm) and late night (9 to 10:30 pm). Each performer will play two hour long sets with an intermission in between.

Singers, spoken word artists, musicians, comedians--if you have talent we want to hear and see you! For details, call 412.338.8733 or e-mail programming@augustwilsoncenter.org

offCenter Thursdays starting July 8
5:30-8 pm / 9-10:30 pm

The August Wilson Center is transforming its Cafe space every Thursday this summer to present some of the most dynamic live entertainment in the Pittsburgh region and beyond. offCenter will be a premiere destination for the edgy urbanite and city dweller. Come out every Thursday to inhale an atmosphere filled with art and exhale entertainment right after work and into the night. Free every Thursday. Cash bar and food available for purchase.

July 8 -- Joy Ike / The Peace Project

First to grace the offCenter stage is the critically acclaimed Pittsburgh-natives, Joy Ike and her sister Peace Ike, of The Peace Project.

Joy Ike
Joy's fans have compared her vocally to Corinne Bailey Rae and Norah Jones, stylistically to Fiona Apple and Regina Spektor, and have said that her ambiance is much like that of India.Arie and Lizz Wright. ". . . a voice and talent beyond her years. The depth of subjects she tackles in her poetic lyrics are perfectly complemented by a unique blend of neo-soul, with just the right dash of pop." - NPR




The Peace Project
The band, launched by lead singer/songwriter and keyboardist Peace Ike, came together in 2009 to create a style that has yet to make an impact on the Pittsburgh music scene. The Peace Project combines piano with rhythmic bass, smooth sax and rocking drum beats and electric guitar to create a rhythmically driven fusion of soul/jazz/R&B/rock and funk.



July 15 -- James Ziegler

The BNY Mellon Gallery features Pittsburgh: Reclaim, Renew, Remix, a core exhibition that is presented by Alcoa Foundation with additional support from the Howell A. and Ann M. Breedlove Charitable Foundation and P.J. Dick Incorporated. This exhibition is dedicated to honoring and preserving Black culture in Southwestern Pennsylvania. This year, the modular exhibit uses imagery, film and oral history narratives to explore "Communities" and "Culture and Innovations". At the centerpiece is an interactive tool that allows you to create a unique video collage of the region's story from your own perspective.

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation Changing Exhibit Gallery displays large traveling exhibitions, as well as work by emerging artists. The first exhibit commissioned by the August Wilson Center is the UPMC-sponsored In My Father's House (opening Summer 2010), a mixed-media exhibition designed as five rooms in a house. Each room highlights a distinct approach to preserving and displaying the visual art and material culture of people of African descent. The Entryway installation is created to display the images of a Pittsburgh Collector of Memories. In this space, individuals will view a "gathering of images" representing a cross section of Pittsburgh's diverse and multifaceted African American community. Room 1 features the everyday objects that can be found in a home, such as old photographs, records, quilts, handmade dolls; Room 2 focuses on art and artifacts by artists of African descent who hail from the Motherland, the Caribbean, Latin America and Mexico; Room 3 contains the works of master African American artists; in Room 4 (From Drums to Zeros and Ones), underwritten by FedEx Ground, African American culture is examined using new technology.

From the hopeful glimmers of the post-Depression years to the explosive Civil Rights era, photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris captured the story of Pittsburgh's thriving African American community. It was all there in his lens; from the heyday of jazz that brought the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne and others to Pittsburgh to the quiet dignity of everyday people in their day-to-day lives. Visitors to the August Wilson Center can witness the mastery and magic of Harris' work through selections from two exhibits organized or produced by the AWC, "Charles "Teenie" Harris: Rhapsody in Black and White" and "Looking Forward: Images of Children By Charles "Teenie" Harris."

"Women of a New Tribe," an exhibition of striking black-and-white photographs by artist Jerry Taliaferro, depicting the beauty and strength of African American women. See noted African American women from the Pittsburgh region, including Elizabeth Asche Douglas, Demeatria Boccella, Tina Brewer, Sabira Bushra, Etta Cox, Christiane D., Toi Dericotte, Sandra Gould Ford, Evelynn Hawkins, Charlet Holley, Dr. Vernell Lillie, Sara Jameelah Martin, Patricia Pugh Mitchell, Dr. Veronica Morgan-Lee, Debbie Norrell, Vivian Ross, Bariki Hall Shabazz, Gwen Simmons, Janera Solomon, Aisha White, Sabrina and Cynthia Wright.

Thad Mosley, a regional icon--and a man of few words - digs deep into art history, jazz, heritage and himself to create thoughtful, emotive freestanding sculptures. Tactile, sensuous and universal in their appeal, Thad's sculptures are comparable in execution and confidence to works by other established artists such as Constantin Brancusi and Isamu Noguchi, as well as to African art. You may find these pieces transcend generational, cultural and educational boundaries. We invite you to come and enjoy five of his sculptures specially selected for display at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture.