The performing arts have long played a vital role in the West Michigan cultural experience, and Grand Valley State University has made the performing arts an integral part of its liberal arts education.
As the university’s arts programs have grown, so has the demand for expanded, flexible, multidisciplinary performance spaces and the resources needed to prepare students for regional and national stages.
To meet these needs, the Grand Valley community will celebrate the dedication of the newly renovated and expanded Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts on Friday, Aug. 25, from 2-4 p.m. on the Allendale Campus.
Formal remarks will begin at 2:15 p.m. with self-guided tours of the facility and a reception following the presentation. Parking will be available in Lot M and the Kirkhof Center’s metered lot.
The two-story, 47,000-square-foot, $20 million addition includes the Linn Maxwell Keller Black Box Theatre, theater support spaces, two theater classrooms, three music ensemble rooms, a new student study space and an enlarged study space in the main lobby.
A separate dedication of the Linn Maxwell Keller Black Box Theatre will take place in October.
The center, which houses Louis Armstrong Theatre and the university’s Art Gallery, was originally constructed in 1971 with its most recent addition completed in 1998.
The Haas Center for Performing Arts has more than 200 pieces of art work on display. A new “salon style” display, which includes art that is stacked two-to-four layers high, will be a focal point of the main lobby of the center. It will reflect the development of the university’s permanent art collection of more than 15,000 works over the past 20 years, including paintings, prints, photography, folk art and sculpture.
Academic programs housed in the center include music, music education, theater and dance. The center is also utilized by extracurricular ensembles, such as the 220-member Laker Marching Band and various vocal ensembles.
