The Center School joins the international arts community in celebrating the life of August Wilson who died on October 2, 2005 at the age of sixty. Mr. Wilson was a long-time resident of Pittsburgh but lived the last 15 years of his life in Seattle. He spent much of his life chronicling life as an African American in the US in a collection of ten plays, one set in each decade of the 20th century. Among his many awards are two Pulitzers and a Tony. He supported the arts in Seattle and specifically honored the Center School by being the guest speaker at the dedication ceremony for the school in September 2002. The following are his remarks on that day.

“I came here today to talk about art and science.

To talk to you about how you have discovered with art a wonderful companion.

You have discovered a way of defining yourself.

A way of defining the world.

I wanted to talk about how if you participate in the creation of art and the discoveries of science, that you must be uncompromising. In everything.

Your art, your research, the principles by which you live your life.

Life is a process of self-discovery.

And to live it as an artist is to be willing to face the deepest parts of yourself. To wrestle with your demons until your spirit becomes larger and stronger and the demons smaller and smaller.

I want to encourage you to have a belief in yourself that is larger than anyone’s disbelief.

And occasionally if you are willing to negotiate the perils you arrive stronger, brighter of spirit to the place that’s yarns and bales of cotton at your feet.

Art is a way of not only discovering yourself but expressing it.

What you discover may startle you, may please you, may puzzle you, may confuse. It may enrich and enlighten you.

And if you take the journey of life through art and through science you will find within yourself many luminous points along with many dark corners and forbidding places.

You may even find rapture.

It is sometimes a daunting and fearful journey.

But Fear is the fuel. Fear is an ally. It will force you to find the best parts of your self.
You have sharp weapons: faith, truth, endurance, love.

And when you discover your possession of these things, they have a grace and a power that uplifts and ennobles and emboldens and inspires.

Your capabilities are as wide as God’s closet. They embrace much finery.

So I leave you with this. It’s your world.

Make art, but make justice too.

Create symphonies, but create systems that allow for full participation in America’s wealth.

Design ways to take advantage of all of society’s potential.

Settle for nothing less.

And give to each hallowed star its own appointed orbit and many roads will open for you.

Thank you”.

~August Wilson
September 10, 2002