Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Four founders of the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, leaders of local arts groups and several of the center's former employees met Saturday to brainstorm ways to pay off the nonprofit's $7 million debt and reorganize its board and programs.
Sala Udin, one of the center's founders, led Saturday's discussion. "With August Wilson's name on the building," he said, "we cannot let his legacy down." Wilson, who died in 2005, was one of America's great playwrights; most of his work is set in the Hill District.
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I don't understand how the original board just thought that their $11 million in debt was going to magically go away...how could you borrow that much without having a plan for repayment? It sounds like the original design for the center's use was flawed. If you're going to spend that much money as an arts organization, you need to have plans for the programming that you want to present, but also for some programming that you know will rake in money, even if it's not necessarily exactly the kinds of things you want to be doing. I'm sure the constantly- changing leadership of the organization hasn't helped with this. It's easy for someone new to come in without a full understanding of the burden of debt that has been left for him by his predecessor, and what it would take for the organization to pay that off. Also, it sounds like this board is irresponsible enough to pressure a new Executive Director into doing things that aren't best for the company's greater financial well-being. It's sad that this has turned into such a mess, but this seems like a text-book case to support the fact that realistic financial planning and program planning are crucial for the survival of arts organizations today.
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