Press Releases
2025
What ‘August Taught Us’ — new exhibition looks at legacy of Pittsburgh’s August Wilson
“Ekphrasis” is the fun term for a vivid written description of a visual artwork. I guess the term for a visual interpretation of written material is just “art.” But ekphrasis…
Read moreDS Kinsel Presents New Work at August Wilson Cultural Center
Renowned visual artist and cultural agitator DS Kinsel unveiled new work created as part of the August Wilson Archive Community Artist-Scholar Award program sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Library…
Read more16 Music Festivals Coming to Pennsylvania in 2025
Start planning your festival weekends now for these Pennsylvania music festivals that will highlight rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop, pop, folk, and more in 2025.
Read moreBlack Art Investment: The Rise in the Global Market
Black art continues to flourish in galleries, auction houses, and private collections worldwide, becoming a focal point for Black art investment. Works by Black artists are highly sought after, reflecting…
Read more2024
Robert Glasper Group: Shines at 14th Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival
Robert Andre Glasper, 46, is a super-talented pianist, record producer, music arranger and composer. During his recent stint at the 14th annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, the Houston-born musician, with…
Read moreNine Lives, with Chris Coles and Sean Jones
WRTI’s Josh Jackson subs in for Greg, talking with Nate about their rich experience at the fest. And they sit down to converse with saxophonist Chris Coles and trumpeter Sean…
Read moreBest Pittsburgh concerts this week: Pitbull, Sum 41, Spoon, Jazz Fest, Megadeth and more
The free festival is stacked with talent, headlined by Robert Glasper and Marsha Ambrosius, while also featuring the farewell tour of the Average White Band, Shemekia Copeland, Maysa, Chris Coles,…
Read moreBlues singer Shemekia Copeland talks ahead of Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival appearance
With an album just released a few weeks ago, blues singer Shemekia Copeland can’t wait to play some of those songs live as part of the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival.
Read more‘Collections in Black’ at August Wilson chronicles work of Black comic book artists, heroes and collectors
Not everything was glittering in the so-called Golden Age of comics, nor did all become sterling with its Silver Age. That’s one part of the message…
Read moreBlack comic book creators and characters showcased in new art exhibition
When Kimberly Jacobs, a curator for the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, first started putting together an exhibit featuring the work of Black comic book creators, she didn’t know…
Read moreBomb Magazine Interview with Tim Okamura & Jessica Lanay
My first encounter with Tim Okamura’s work was in a small, dimly lit gallery in a brooklyn museum in 2012. The moderate relief from his art’s build-up of paint gave…
Read more2023
Best Pittsburgh concerts this week: The 1975, Grace Potter, Blues Fest, Joni tribute and more
The 6th annual festival, showcasing connections of the blues from Africa to the Americas, will feature a Friday night concert with Bobby Rush, the two-time Grammy winning Arkansas-bred bluesman.
Read moreCitizens bank gifts Pittsburgh Film Office $200,000 toward CREATE PA jobs initiative
Western Pennsylvania’s film industry just received some great news at a time when this region’s creatives have been desperately searching for a win.
Read more‘It feels great to be back’: Black Bottom Film Festival returns to August Wilson Center
True cinephiles like Janis Burley can’t hide the glee in their voices while discussing movies. Burley is the president and CEO of Downtown’s August Wilson African American Cultural Center.
Read moreBlack Bottom Film Festival To Honor Academy Museum Head Jacqueline Stewart At 2023 Edition Curated By Micheaux Film Festival
Pittsburgh’s Black Bottom Film Festival (BBFF), hosted by the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC), has inked a curatorial partnership with LA’s Micheaux Film Festival for its upcoming sixth…
Read moreBest Pittsburgh Concerts this Week: Jazz Fest, Old Dominion, Melvins, $uicideboy$ and More
The festival returns for a 13th edition with a stellar lineup of jazz and R&B artists over four nights at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Downtown, and Highmark…
Read moreThe 13th Annual Jazz Festival is a Star-Studded Affair
The 13th annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival returns to the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and Highmark Stadium Thursday through Sunday.
Read more2022
Women shine in Pittsburgh production of an opera about a famed female adventurer
“Protagonist, message and means of production all resonate to a unifying theme in the Pittsburgh premiere of the opera “Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt.” This…
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Song from the Uproar recalls one woman’s incredible life with all-female cast and crew
Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt will mark a few firsts for the Pittsburgh-based DEMASKUS Theater Collective. Besides being the first opera produced by DEMASKUS, it…
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A Tour Through August’s ‘Landscape’
August Wilson, America’s Shakespeare, is having a “moment,” to use the words of Constanza Romero-Wilson, the playwright’s widow and chief curator of “August Wilson: The Writer’s Landscape,” a new exhibition at the August…
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How Playwright August Wilson Captured the Highs and Lows of Black America
Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, playwright August Wilson spent much of his time in diners and coffee shops in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, scrawling notes on napkins about the sights, sounds…
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New Pittsburgh exhibit celebrates hometown playwright August Wilson: ‘Everyone’s life experiences are important’
The American playwright – the author of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Fences,” “The Piano Lesson” and more — set almost all of his work in his hometown, writing about some…
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New permanent exhibit highlights the life and work of playwright August Wilson
August Wilson was not nearly as prolific. He broke through with “Jitney” in 1982 when he was 37, and followed with a staggering burst of creativity. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,”…
Read moreNew permanent exhibit highlights the life and work of playwright August Wilson
August Wilson was not nearly as prolific. He broke through with “Jitney” in 1982 when he was 37, and followed with a staggering burst of creativity. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,”…
Read more
‘The Writer’s Landscape’ celebrates famed playwright August Wilson and his Pittsburgh roots
Few Pittsburgh-born artists have had as great an impact on their fields as did playwright August Wilson, who won the first of his two Pulitzer Prizes for drama in 1987…
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