The late playwright August Wilson has loomed large over the Pittsburgh cultural landscape for 40 years, but there has not been a permanent exhibit on his life and work available for the public to see until this week. Starting Saturday, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in downtown Pittsburgh will open a 3,600-square-foot gallery space with artifacts, audio recordings and other items that will illuminate Wilson’s creativity and the issues of race, family and community that appear in acclaimed works like “Fences” and “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” For anyone who is curious about exploring the work of Wilson, this exhibit is an excellent place to start. His widow, Constanza Romero-Wilson, said, “Pittsburgh’s Hill District and its people had a profound impact on my late husband’s writing, and the universality of his characters who call for racial justice continues to speak to audiences around the world today.”
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The late playwright August Wilson has loomed large over the Pittsburgh cultural landscape for 40 years, but there has not been a permanent exhibit on his life and work available for the public to see until this week. Starting Saturday, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in downtown Pittsburgh will open a 3,600-square-foot gallery space with artifacts, audio recordings and other items that will illuminate Wilson’s creativity and the issues of race, family and community that appear in acclaimed works like “Fences” and “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” For anyone who is curious about exploring the work of Wilson, this exhibit is an excellent place to start. His widow, Constanza Romero-Wilson, said, “Pittsburgh’s Hill District and its people had a profound impact on my late husband’s writing, and the universality of his characters who call for racial justice continues to speak to audiences around the world today.”