PITTSBURGH — South Side director and cinematographer Billy Jackson says his documentary, "The August Wilson Center — Building on a Legacy," is about much more than the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright from Pittsburgh.
The documentary, which will be screened virtually Oct. 20-23, tells the story of the downtown center's construction, its vision and the struggles of maintaining the pulse of that vision.
"(The center) has had its struggles but I want to see it succeed," said Jackson. "It should be not only a symbol but a center for Black achievement and Pittsburgh Black creativity. And, as one person said in the documentary, an opportunity to heal the wounds of Pittsburgh, Black and white, and (an opportunity) to come and enjoy art and humanity, together, and to be able to have a forum to address issues that would get in the way of that enjoyment of art and humanity."
The gleaming building of steel and glass on Liberty Avenue has many functions. There is a nearly 500-seat theater, areas for art exhibitions, classrooms for educational programs, and space for community events. Each offers a venue for art, history, music, literature and theater.
The center was designed to resemble the trading ships that brought human chattel and their culture from East Africa to the U.S. centuries ago. August Wilson, its namesake, wrote plays examining the African American experience in Pittsburgh, the setting for nine of the 10 plays in his American Century Cycle.
Shooting for "Legacy" began in 2008, a year before the center opened and Jackson was nearly finished when the center hit financial issues in 2013. He continued working on the documentary through the center's reopening in 2016, finally completing the project in 2021.
Funded with help from the Heinz Endowments and Pittsburgh Foundation, Jackson's documentary covers the first three chapters of the August Wilson Center's existence: its opening, its struggles and getting on the path for long-term success.
Many dignitaries were on hand when the $42 million center opened in September 2009. It was funded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Pittsburgh Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Urban Redevelopment Authority and Allegheny Regional Asset District. There was also an $11 million bank loan from Dollar Bank. When the U.S. housing market collapsed and a recession took hold, the center fell behind on loan payments and Dollar Bank sued in 2013 to foreclose.
Concerns were raised that local funding went to an endeavor that might not be fiscally sound. Many of those complaints, noted some in the documentary, had the distinct ring of racism.
"Oh, that was racist," Tony Norman, a former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist and current NEXTpittsburgh writer, says in the documentary.
"Suddenly, you'd realize this isn't about a cultural center at all. This is about how people view race, about how people view the legitimate use of tax dollars," said Grant Oliphant, the CEO of the Heinz Foundation at the time. "The racist invective, the suspicion around race, the yours-vs.-mine attitudes, really come to the fore. And its not pretty. We also need to deal with it."
The August Wilson Center was bought, with help from Allegheny County and the city of Pittsburgh, by the Pittsburgh Foundation, Heinz Endowments and Richard King Mellon Foundation, clearing the center of its debts.
"Legacy" features interviews with artists and those involved in the center's funding and operation. Jackson said he made sure to make references to Wilson's work, because alongside being a space for Black creativity, the center is also about spreading knowledge of Wilson's plays.
"A lot of people don't know about August. They don't know his genius. They don't really have an idea of how much of a sage and very important American artist he was," he said.
The film, which is narrated by film and stage actor Stephen McKinley Henderson, is being screened by NOMMO Productions. For more information and to register for the free screening, go to promo.ourcitymarketplace.com/legacy by Oct. 17.
