Mission Statement
The mission of the McAninch Arts Center is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community.To achieve this mission the McAninch Arts Center will:
• Educate and develop both artists and audiences for the future through instructional, produced and presented programs;• Provide a cultural center, recognized and loyally supported by the community, in which people can participate in, interact with, and view all the arts; and
• Create new audiences and sustain established audiences through a wide variety of programs ranging from the purely entertaining to the artistically challenging, designed to foster lifelong appreciation of the arts, sensitivity to cultural diversity, and the willingness to experience new artistry.
About the McAninch Arts Center
Since the center opened in October 1986, its initial season and each of its succeeding 14 have left lasting memories on more than one million audience members.
The McAninch Arts Center houses three theaters: the 793-seat Mainstage, where no seat is more than 16 rows, or 75 feet, from the stage; Theatre 2, a 195-seat hall featuring a "soft thrust" stage; and the Studio Theatre, a versatile, black-box performance space. Adjacent to the Mainstage lobby is the Gahlberg Gallery, a 90' x 25' space for visual art exhibition.
Also housed in the McAninch Arts Center are nine instructional programs. Go to the Academic Programs page for more information.
Planning for the McAninch Arts Center began in 1981. The final budget for the facility totaled $14.4 million, funded through public support and private contributions. The programs you see on stage are funded entirely through box office revenue, student activities fees, grants, endowments, donations, and income generated through rentals, concession sales and program advertising.
The average week in the McAninch Arts Center includes 5.1 public performances of 1.6 arts programs, 2.2 rental events, 10.25 rehearsals and one usage by college departments outside the arts — or 2.5 scheduled events per day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. The 1996-97 season included 263 performances of 84 separate plays and concerts, as well as nine art exhibits.
In the past year, the McAninch Arts Center received more than $125,000 in grant funding and corporate sponsorships plus an additional $50,000 in scholarship funds. At the south end of the Mainstage lobby is our donor wall, which recognizes individuals and corporations whose contributions have established and supported our Arts Endowment.
The McAninch Arts Center is home to five resident professional ensembles. Go to the Resident Companies page for more information.
Educational theater, music and dance programs, as well as rentals to community groups, complete the performance schedule.
