Project
Overview
About Us
The Daisy Wilson Artist Community, Inc. (DWAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to the revitalization of the August Wilson House at 1727 Bedford Avenue and its surrounding Hill District neighborhood.
Our Mission
The mission of DWAC is to celebrate the literary and personal legacy of August Wilson and serve as an arts center to nurture the historic Hill District community, arts practitioners, and scholars influenced by his work. Fully conceived and programmed, the August Wilson House shall:
- Restore and reimagine August’s childhood home as an interpretive exhibition space
- Produce culturally compelling community programs reflecting black arts tradition and aesthetics, and
- Elevate artists and scholars to develop and co-develop works within the Hill District
The vision of the August Wilson House is to extend August’s heritage by advancing art and culture of the African diaspora and impacting the cultural landscape far beyond the Hill, while celebrating the rich store of personal memory and community history into which August dipped the ladle of his transforming art.
About the Renovation Project: The Home of August Wilson
The planned renovations of the August Wilson House have been preceded by a series of stabilization projects completed in 2017. The houses was built in two campaigns and totals just over 6,000 sf. Initial projects were funded by a number of local foundations and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Already a site of cultural pilgrimage, the August Wilson House will feature his childhood home restored and designed as an interpretive site incorporating permanent and rotating digital, audio and artifact exhibitions inspired by August’s work.
1840s Farmhouse August Wilson Home (Daisy’s kitchen) Seven Guitars support space (green room and storage) Studio kitchen (catering support and education) 1893 Storefront Bella’s Market Gallery August Wilson Fellows studios (4) New Construction ADA toilets, elevator, feature egress stair Bedford Overlook studios Rooftop terrace overlooking Bedford streetscape and city skyline Site Features Backyard Seven Guitars performance space Daisy’s interpretive garden August’s Walk Bedford event terrace 1725 Bedford Butera Court