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Mesa Arts Center is the culmination of more than a century of support for arts and art education in the Mesa area, and the result of more than six years of planning and design involving hundreds of members of the community.
The Center was one of many public projects funded by a half-cent sales tax increase approved by Mesa voters in May 1998. $90.8 million was allotted for the design and construction of the new facility. An additional $4.7 million was raised by the Mesa Arts and Entertainment Alliance, to supplement theatre construction and other features.
The budget and construction schedule below were approved by Mesa City Council on July 13, 1999, and the final design was approved in November 2000. Bid for construction was awarded to Layton Southwest Inc. on May 6, 2002. Ground breaking took place May 20, 2002.
The firms of BOORA Architects of Portland and DWL Architects + Planners of Phoenix were selected to design the new facility. The architect team was chosen by the Mesa Arts Center Architectural Selection and Design Committee, which spent four months reviewing proposals, interviewing finalists and visiting projects designed by several architectural firms.
The public art master plan for the facility was created by Jack Mackie of Seattle, Washington. Three artists were selected to contribute public artworks to the new Center: Ned Kahn of Sebastopol, California; Beth Galston of Somerville, Massachusetts; and Catherine Widgery of Truro, Massachusetts.
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