Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts facts for kids
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, February 2010
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| Full name | Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County |
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| Former names | Miami Performing Arts Center (planning/construction) Carnival Center for the Performing Arts (2006-08) |
| Address | 1300 Biscayne Boulevard Miami, Florida |
| Location | Arts & Entertainment District |
| Coordinates | 25°47′15″N 80°11′32″W / 25.7876332°N 80.1920912°W |
| Owner | Government of Miami-Dade County |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 15, 2001 |
| Opened | October 5, 2006 |
| Construction cost | $472 million ($780 million in 2022) |
| Tenants | |
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Building details
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| Design and construction | |
| Architect | César Pelli & Associates |
| Structural engineer | Ove Arup & Partners |
| Services engineer | Cosentini Associates |
| Civil engineer | Balmori Associates |
| Other designers |
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| Main contractor |
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The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts is a huge place in Miami, Florida, where people can enjoy live shows. It is one of the biggest performing arts centers in the United States.
The Arsht Center brings artists from all over the world to Miami. It also has special programs from its three main groups and local artists. They offer many free events for the community, like Family Fest and Free Gospel Sundays. These events help people from different backgrounds come together through art. Since 2020, the Arsht Center has even done over 100 pop-up shows in hospitals, parks, and libraries around Miami.
Part of the center was built where an old Sears department store used to be. This old store had a special Art Deco tower from 1929. When the new center was built, they decided to keep this historic tower and make it part of the new building.
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History of the Arsht Center
The center first opened on October 5, 2006. Back then, it was called the Carnival Center. Many famous people, like singer Gloria Estefan and actor Andy García, attended the opening.
On January 10, 2008, a kind person named Adrienne Arsht gave $30 million to the center. This big gift helped the center become financially stable. Because of her generosity, the center was renamed The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Most people just call it the Arsht Center.
In 2016, a program run by the Arsht Center called AileyCamp Miami won a special award at the White House. This award was for youth programs in arts and humanities. In 2022, the Arsht Center was even nominated for a Latin Grammy Award! This was for a documentary they worked on with a flamenco dancer.
The Arsht Center cost about $470 million to build. It has also helped bring over $1 billion in new investments to downtown Miami, helping the area grow.
Architecture and Performance Spaces
The Arsht Center was designed by a famous architect named César Pelli. It covers two large areas, about 570,000 square feet (53,000 square meters), on both sides of Biscayne Boulevard. A special bridge connects these two parts. The sound quality inside the buildings was designed by Russell Johnson, an expert in acoustics.
The center has three main performance halls. You can even rent them for your own events!
- The Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House can seat 2,400 people. It's perfect for ballets and operas.
- The John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall holds 2,200 people. Its stage can extend into the audience. There are also seats behind the stage for 200 more people or a chorus. This hall can even turn into a "Grand Ballroom" for dining and dancing!
- The Carnival Studio Theater is a flexible "black-box" space. It can be set up for up to 250 seats, making it great for smaller, more experimental shows.
There are also two smaller places for events:
- The Peacock Rehearsal Studio can hold 270 people.
- The Parker and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts is an outdoor space. It connects the two main buildings and is used for social events and performances.
| Seating Capacity | |
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| Ziff Ballet Opera House | 2,400 |
| Knight Concert Hall | 2,200 |
| Thomson Plaza for the Arts | 1,000 |
| Adams Foundation Lobby | 600 |
| Ryder System Lobby | 400 |
| Peacock Foundation Studio | 300 |
| Carnival Studio Theater | 297 |
| Peacock Education Center | 150 |
| Next Generation Green Room | 80 |
| Terra Group Patrons Club | 77 |
Events and Performances
The Arsht Center hosts about 400 shows and events every year. Around 450,000 people visit the center each year to enjoy these performances. Most of the shows are presented by the center itself.
Some popular series include:
- Jazz Roots
- Knight Masterworks Classical Music
- Theater Up Close
- Live at Knight
- Flamenco Festival
- Family Fest
- City Theatre's Summer Shorts (a festival of short plays)
Community and Education Programs
The Arsht Center offers many educational programs for young people and adults. These programs often work with Miami-Dade Public Schools and other local groups. They help people learn about and enjoy the performing arts.
Some examples of these programs are:
- Jazz Roots Sound Check: This program lets 1,000 high school jazz musicians go behind the scenes of a sound check. They can even play with the artists and get free concert tickets!
- AileyCamp Miami: This is a six-week summer camp where students get a full scholarship. It started in 2009.
- Learning Through the Arts: This program brings live music, theater, and dance to Miami public school children. It includes musicals produced by the Arsht Center, like Kitty Hawk, I am Me, and The Busy Bees’ Great Adventure. The Busy Bees’ Great Adventure show teaches kids about protecting our planet.
Presidential Debates
The Arsht Center was chosen to host an important political event. It was the location for the first debate of the 2020 presidential campaign on June 26–27, 2019.
The center was also supposed to host one of the main debates for the 2020 United States presidential election in October 2020. However, this debate did not happen as planned. One of the candidates, Donald Trump, had recently recovered from an illness. To keep everyone safe, the debate organizers suggested a virtual debate. But Trump decided not to participate in a virtual debate. Instead, he had a separate event at a nearby museum. The other candidate, Joe Biden, had his own event in a different city.
Broadway in Miami Series
The Arsht Center often brings popular Broadway shows to Miami.
The 2018–2019 season included famous musicals like:
- Hello Dolly
- Irving Berlin's White Christmas
- Les Misérables
- Waitress
- School of Rock: The Musical
- Come From Away
- The Lion King
People who bought tickets for the 2018/19 season also got early access to tickets for the very popular musical Hamilton.
The 2017–2018 season featured shows such as:
- On Your Feet!: The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan
- The Bodyguard
- Finding Neverland
- The Color Purple
- Chicago
- The Book of Mormon
See Also
In Spanish: Centro de Artes Escénicas de Adrienne Arsht para niños
- List of concert halls
