Tempe Center for the Arts
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Tempe Center for the Arts, completed in August, 2007, with a grand opening on September 9th, 2007, is a publicly owned performing and visual arts center in Tempe, Arizona. The building was designed by Barton Myers Associates of Los Angeles and Architekton of Tempe. A citizens group, formed in 1998, spearheaded a ballot initiative to create an arts center. The resulting increase in the sales tax of .1% was used to fund seed money for the management, design, and construction of the facility.
A management firm (Kitchell CEM) was selected by the city government to oversee a three-phase design competition, leading to the selection of the design team in 2000. Following public input, the design was completed in 2003. Construction began in April 2004 and took 40 months.
The Center features a roof made of complex geometric folded plates. The roof is highly visible from the surrounding freeways and the man-made Tempe Town Lake, which occupies the natural watercourse of the Salt River, immediately adjacent to the site. It is also visible by many airplanes landing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, two miles west of the building.
The project is home to Tempe’s Homegrown Cultural and Arts Groups:
- Theater companies - Childsplay, Tempe Little Theatre, and Essential Theater
- Dance companies - A Ludwig Dance Theatre and Desert Dance Theater
- Music ensembles - Tempe Symphony Orchestra and Tempe Community Chorus
Four public art pieces were included in the design:
- Entry Marquee – Ned Kahn;
- Fireplace – True North - Mayme Kratz and Mark Ryan;
- Fountain Reflections – Ned Kahn; and
- Lobby Carpet – Ramona Saskiestewa.
