Students in Grand Valley State University’s performing arts programs will have a shiny new facility to perform in and learn in this fall.
GVSU is celebrating the completion of the $20 million addition and renovation of its Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts on Friday, Aug. 25, from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. on its Allendale Campus.
The two-story, 47,000-square-foot 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 artwork 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. Extracurricular ensembles such as the 220-member Laker Marching Band and various vocal ensembles also use the center.
*Photo courtesy of Grand Valley State University
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