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The new Mesa Arts Center is a 212,755-square-foot performing arts, visual arts, and arts education facility, the largest and most comprehensive arts center in the state of Arizona. Located in the heart of downtown at Center and Main Streets, Mesa Arts Center reflects the city’s rich tradition of family, community and pride.

An inviting oasis by day and a luminous beacon by night, this central gathering place is designed to showcase a world of arts and culture – everything from art exhibitions to world-class performances to state-of-the-art studios for art education. The design of Mesa Arts Center was inspired by the unique character of the Sonoran Desert – a rich desert, mountain and canyon environment. The campus includes a complex of four theaters, Mesa Contemporary Arts’ galleries and exhibition space, two Art Studios buildings with visual and performing arts studios and classrooms, informal performance areas, administrative support space, and a 700-foot Shadow Walk that creates an inviting, shaded outdoor oasis plaza.

Facts About the Center

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Mission and Vision:
The mission of Mesa Arts Center is to inspire people through impacting and engaging arts experiences that are diverse, accessible, and relevant; and that enhance the quality of life and vitality of the greater region. We honor our work place unity of purpose and our interconnectedness, while valuing the significance of individual talents. The vision of Mesa Arts Center is to become the premier arts center in the West.

Unique Niche:
The new Mesa Arts Center is the largest arts center in the state of Arizona and the only center offering comprehensive professional performing arts, visual arts and arts education programming all on one easily accessible campus.

The new Mesa Arts Center is:

• Mesa's new gathering place
• A downtown landmark and destination
• The heart and soul of the Mesa Town Center
• The anchor of the Mesa Arts and Cultural District
• An economic development engine for downtown Mesa

Location:
1 East Main Street
(Southeast corner of Main and Center Streets in downtown Mesa)

Capital Funding: $94.5 million
Public: $90.8 million, City of Mesa (funds come from "Quality of Life" sales tax approved by voters in 1998)
Private: $3.7 million, Mesa Arts Alliance (capital campaign completed in 2004)

The Campus:

• Three buildings located on seven acres; 212,775 square feet
• Theaters Complex: 4 theaters - 1,588-seat Tom and Janet Ikeda Theater; 550-seat Virginia G. Piper Repertory Theater; 200-seat Nesbitt/Elliott Playhouse; 99-seat Anita Cox Farnsworth Studio Theater; Box Office; continuous lobby; concessions areas; 17 dressing rooms; back-of-house and technical support spaces
• Mesa Contemporary Arts: 5,500 square feet exhibition space in five galleries - Wilson and Ruby Dobson Main Gallery (2,400 s.f.); South Gallery (1,400 s.f.); Dr. Ruth Tan Lim Project Room (500 s.f.); SRP Permanent Collection Gallery (500 s.f.); North Gallery (700 s.f.); meeting space; lecture hall; lobby atrium for artwork; sculpture courtyard; back-of-house and collection storage spaces (5,500 s.f.)
• Art Studios: 14 visual and performing arts studios and classrooms - Ceramics, Painting, Printmaking, Glass, Jewelry and Metals, Sculpture, Photography, Multimedia, Children's/Multipurpose, Acting, Drama, Dance, Music; informal performance spaces; administrative offices
• Shadow Walk: Outdoor gardens, sunken courtyards, private gathering places, informal performance areas

Unique Design Features:

• Environment: A unique and inviting oasis by day, and a transparent and luminous beacon at night, with an image both classic and forward-thinking
• Design Concept: Inspired by and reflects the unique character of the Sonoran Desert: a rich desert, mountain and canyon environment
• Architectural Features: Jagged angles, canted walls, sloping roofs, glass walls, regional colors and materials
• Outdoor Features: A terraced, desert oasis with a graceful arc of trees, exotic gardens, a running arroyo and other water features, abundant shade from giant canopies, and glass pergolas that cast colorful shadows on the walkways
• Public Art: Lobby shade screens that shimmer like water and reflect swirling desert sand dunes (Artist Ned Kahn); Colored glass panels inspired by sunset-colored storm clouds on a bridged walkway (Artist Beth Galston); Silver lobby floor medallions that dissolve with changing light (Artist Catherine Widgery)

Types of Programming:

• Theaters: Performing Live presents world-class professional touring entertainment including Broadway-style theater, classical and popular music, ethnic and western artists, dance, family entertainment, and a free concert series; Stageworks (formerly Mesa Youtheatre) produces educational plays for young audiences, and showcases its improvisational theater and dance troupes
• Mesa Contemporary Arts: Four galleries for changing exhibitions of prominent and emerging artists in sculpture, painting, installations, furniture, ceramics and the Permanent Collection; and a community gallery to showcase work of local artists
• Art Studios: More than 700 performing and visual arts education classes for youth and adults
• Programming Philosophy: Mesa Arts Center believes the arts are inclusive and for everyone, and will strive for diversity in all programming

Local Performing Arts Companies Showcased in Theaters:

• "Home" Venue for Mesa companies*: Ballet Etudes; Composers Foundry Institute; East Valley Children's Theatre; Mesa Encore Theatre; Mesa Symphony Orchestra; Metropolitan Youth Symphony; Sonoran Desert Chorale; Southwest Shakespeare Company; Xicanindio Artes
• Potential East Valley expansion market for regional companies*: Arizona Theatre Company; Phoenix Boys Choir; Phoenix Symphony; Theater League

*These are representative companies and not an all-inclusive list.

Audiences and Markets:

• East Valley: Cities within a 30-minutes drive of Mesa Arts Center include Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Ahwatukee, Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, Scottsdale and Phoenix
• Regional: As the largest arts center in the state and with its unique architectural features, Mesa Arts Center is envisioned as a cultural tourism destination for visitors from around the state and throughout the Southwest region

World-Class Facility Design Team:

• BOORA Architects of Portland and DWL Architects + Planners of Phoenix, architects
• Martha Schwartz, Inc, landscape architect
• Auerbach Pollock Friedlander, theater consultant
• Auerbach Glasow, architectural lighting designer
• McKay, Conant Brook, acoustical consultant
• Kitchell CEM, construction management
• Layton Construction of Arizona, general contractor

Mesa Arts Center by the Numbers:

• People: 350,000-500,000 estimated annual attendance (1,000-2,000 people/day)
• Events: 600-800 performances annually, galleries open year-round, classes offered year-round
• Size: Three-building complex, 212,775 square feet on seven acres
• Capital Budget: $94.5 million
• Groundbreaking: May 20, 2002
• Opening: Spring 2005