On July 20, Janis Burley Wilson, pictured with the August Wilson portrait she commissioned for the Center’s 1839 Gallery, was named the organization’s new president and CEO. 12 TheAugustWilsonCenter GEMOFTHECITY I N A 1 9 9 9 I N T E R V I E W withtheParisReview,playwright andHillDistrictnativeAugustWilsondescribed“Fences”asa storyoflove,honor,dutyandbetrayal.Untilrecently,thesame mighthavebeensaidoftheculturalcenterbearinghisname. ThedreamofaninstitutioncelebratingAfrican AmericancultureinPittsburghbecamerealata2001press conference, when Mulugetta Birru, then head of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, designated a Downtown lot topped with dilapidated buildings as home for the August Wilson Center. Alotofgroundhadbeenplowedtoearnthatmoment. NewlyelectedcouncilmanSalaUdin,aboyhoodfriendof Wilson’s,builtpoliticalsupport,whileBonnieVanKirkand KarenFarmerWhiteledgrass-rootsfundraising.Yvonne Cook,MonaGenerett,MarvaHarris,CecileSpringer,Nancy Washington,andPastorsDr.WilliamH.Curtisandthelate JasonBarrledtheirownnetworks.CarolBrownservedas foundingboardmember,andOliverByrdchaired. “It was like the Bible,” Byrd said at the time. “So many peopleworkedsohardtoclaimaspotontheculturallandscape. It was a huge undertaking.” ConstructionwaswellunderwaywhentheGreatRecession struck. Costs and debt soared, plunging the Center into bankruptcy and leaving many supporters demoralized and angry.Asfor-profitdevelopersbegancircling,acoalitionof governmentagenciesandthreephilanthropies — ThePittsburgh Foundation,TheHeinzEndowmentsandtheRichardKing MellonFoundation — boughttheCenterandbeganrebuilding. Threenewcommunitymembersjoinedtheboard, includingdeveloperMichaelPolite,nowchair,wholedthe searchthisyearthatproducedthenewpresident,JanisBurley Wilson,whohadbeenvicepresidentforstrategicpartnerships andcommunityengagementatthePittsburghCulturalTrust. Here,BurleyWilsonrelateshervisionfortheCenter’sfuture.