The August Wilson Center for African American Culture will shift from focusing on presenting out-of-town artists to producing more of its own programming next season in an attempt to brighten the spotlight on local talent and provide more opportunities for the city’s dancers, actors, musicians and visual artists.
President and CEO Andre Kimo Stone Guess announced at a press conference today that the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble led by Greer Reed-Jones, Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra directed by Sean Jones and the newly formed August Wilson Center Theater Ensemble headed by Mark Clayton Southers will make up the crux of the center’s 2011-12 lineup.
Visual art exhibits, under the direction of curator Cecile Shellman, also will seek submissions from regional artists.
The August Wilson Center, located on Liberty Avenue, Downtown, also will launch this fall an online literary magazine — tentatively dubbed The Hill — that will feature writings with a New Yorker magazine-feel that pay special attention to African American culture. Highmark will be the August Wilson Center’s premier sponsor for the next three seasons.
The center will continue to bring in talent from outside the region to complement work the resident companies are presenting, Mr. Guess said.