The Pittsburgh Foundation

African American Cultural Center board appoints trustees

Pittsburgh Foundation Sets $300,000 Fund for Mission-Centered Artworks

August Wilson Center Programming, Booking, Facility Preparation Underway

PITTSBURGH, August 27, 2015 – The governing Board of  the August Wilson Center in downtown Pittsburgh today announced the addition of two Board members who are local experts in development, real estate and business management. The Board also announced a new $300,000 funding stream from The Pittsburgh Foundation to support regional arts organizations in developing programming aligned with the Center’s mission. In addition, the Board provided a facility management update.

Two Executives Join Cultural Center Board

Board Chair Maxwell King, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, announced that Michael Polite, chairman and CEO of Ralph A. Falbo, Inc., and Richard W. Taylor, CEO of ImbuTec, have been selected to serve on the governing Board of the Wilson Center for two three-year terms. They join founding members Maxwell King, Scott Izzo, director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments.

Polite is a majority owner of Ralph A. Falbo Inc., a developer of unique and innovative urban residential properties. He was the former director of economic development of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. With a strong record of accomplishment in community development and public service, Polite has led initiatives in public and private housing and economic development, program management, minority and micro-business development and community outreach. Other Boards on which he serves include: Energy Center Innovation Institute, the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County Finance and Development Commission, and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Previously, he served on the boards of Pittsburgh Gateways Corp., Catholic Charities and Angel’s Place.

Commenting on his appointment, Polite said, “I am honored and pleased to serve on the board of this very important community asset. I hope to use my experiences in community development and public service in making a contribution to the governance of the African American Cultural Center. I see this as an opportunity to build on the work of previous volunteers and staff, and to create a long-lived resource where people from our region and beyond can study, enjoy and celebrate the work of African-American artists.”

Taylor is an attorney, community and business leader, and entrepreneur with experience in business and governmental affairs, community revitalization and the energy services industry. His career includes appointments as a federal and state governmental affairs representative, legal counsel and director of knowledge management for Consolidated Natural Gas Co., and director of communications for Equitable Resources. As former CEO of Macedonia Development Corp., Taylor led the initiation of housing development and other community revitalization projects in Pittsburgh’s Hill District community. Currently, he serves on the boards of Macedonia Development Corp., the Power of 32 and the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics. He also served on the boards of the Urban League of Pittsburgh, Port Authority of Allegheny County, and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

“Having been raised in a family actively involved in the arts, I was fortunate to experience first-hand how artistic engagement helps to deepen our understanding of ourselves and the broader world,” said Taylor.  “I’m deeply honored to have the opportunity to continue the work that was begun by many others to ensure there is a focused outlet for the study and expression of the ongoing artistic legacy of the African American community in Pittsburgh and beyond.  Ensuring the viability and vibrancy of this institution is especially important for the African American community, but it is critical for the broader region as well, because diverse cultural experiences provide the path by which we deepen our connection to each other.”

 “We’re very pleased that Mike and Richard have agreed to join us in this important work,” said King. “While I know the process that got them here has taken more time than some expected, we wanted to be absolutely sure we recruited members of the community who are dedicated to the Wilson Center’s mission and who have specific skills and experience that are essential to its responsible management,” he said. “I think that when people work with Mike and Richard, they’ll agree that this involved search has brought a very good result for the Center and for the arts in Pittsburgh.”

The governance plan includes adding three new members during the next year and eventually for the foundation heads to leave the Center’s board. Ultimately, the Board will have primarily African American members with expertise in nonprofit facilities management, real estate, business and finance. This cultural board meets monthly.

Programming Plans Include National, Regional/Local Artists and a Special Fund

The programming strategy of the AACC has led to three initial sources of program development:

  1. The Programming Fund for the African American Cultural Center, initiated by The Pittsburgh Foundation, will make available a limited number of grants ranging from $25,000 up to $100,000 to support a wide variety of mission-aligned projects to take place at the August Wilson Center building beginning next year. The Foundation program calls for 61 organizations to submit project ideas for review by a peer panel of local and national experts who have experience presenting and/or producing African American cultural and educational programming.
     
  2. Programming for the African American Cultural Center presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will showcase nationally and internationally renowned visual and performing arts, as well as support and nurture the burgeoning local arts community. The Heinz Endowments has led a group of funders in support of the Trust’s work at the Center with a $300,000 grant.
     
  3.  Earlier this summer, the Cultural Trust issued a “call for bookings” to the regional arts community inviting all to explore the opportunity to utilize the August Wilson Center for productions, meetings and other arts-connected events. About 60 confirmed bookings have already been planned through the end of this year.

The Trust is planning a genre-based series of productions highlighting music such as Gospel, theater and dance. On Sept. 20, the Trust kicks off the Soul Sessions series with Grammy-winning vocalist Gregory Porter. Other performances include the Pittsburgh Dance Council presentations of Philadanco and Ailey II. A highly anticipated production of August Wilson’s “Piano Lesson,” co-presented with the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Co., and directed by Mark Clayton Southers, runs in November. Information about the facility and rental is available at: www.culturaldistrict.org/AWC.

  1. Program recommendations will also be derived from ideas gathered during the past year from a series of community conversations and advisors by the former August Wilson Recovery Committee, now being replaced by AWC Renewal Inc.  These recommendations, involving regional performing artists, events, activities and community engagement ideas, are expected to be made next month and will complete the work of the former AWC Recovery Committee.

Operationalizing the August Wilson Center

The AACC Board has been working closely with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to prepare the Center to be fully operational during the last quarter of this year. With no debt connected to the building, the Cultural Trust continues to focus on creating an efficient operating infrastructure to manage the facility while, at the same time, booking events for the remainder of 2015 and beyond.

In addition, The Trust is providing the August Wilson Center with the same shared services that it offers to its other cultural venues including: scheduling and booking events, marketing, ticketing services, event services, facilities operations, and visual arts spaces.  While the predecessor organization had to contract or arrange for all of these services on its own, this new arrangement leverages the Trust’s economies of scale and experience in managing such a facility.

The entire facility has undergone a complete engineering and system review in order to receive the required maintenance to become fully functional.  A facility manager, via the Cultural Trust, is now in place. The facility plan includes restoration of outside landscaping.

A part of the August Wilson Center’s initial activation, an “I AM AUGUST” window installation art project displaying the photography and work of Brazilian artist Angelica Dass, will feature 150 photographs of local people whose images will be unveiled Sept. 25 as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl.  Other artistic and educational programs are currently being reviewed as part of the Center’s community programming.

Community Collaboration Continues

AWC Renewal Inc. (a nonprofit community organization that grew out of the AWC Recovery Committee), has been formed in order to encourage and provide community-based programming in the Center. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams III is AWC Renewal’s board president. Several members of the AWC Recovery Committee plan to continue serving on this board.

“In collaboration with the regional foundation community, we are working on a multi-year funding plan that will sustain programming and operations into the future,” said King. “We are very pleased with the Center’s progress so far, and while there is much work yet to be done to realize the vision the community has for it, we know that with the new leadership on the Board and the artistic talent from this community and beyond, we will succeed.” # # # #