Woodruff Arts Center has embodied the transformative power of the arts since its inception. The tragic death of 130 Atlanta arts leaders and crew during a 1962 airplane crash in Paris catalyzed an Atlanta campaign to build a visual and performing arts center as a tribute to these victims.
Atlanta leaders selected Joseph Amisano, FAIA (1917–2008), an Atlanta architect for projects such as the original Lenox Square Shopping Center and MARTA’s Peachtree Center station, to design the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center.
Art patrons celebrated the opening of the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center on October 8, 1968. The modernist concrete building framed with columns transformed the city’s cultural landscape by accommodating visual and performance arts organizations under one roof. Interior spaces featured a performance hall for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, art gallery spaces for the High Museum of Art, and a theatre for plays, ballet, and opera performances.
Renamed in 1982 to honor benefactor Robert Woodruff, the Woodruff Arts Center campus now houses the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the High Museum of Art. More than one million patrons annually visit the campus for performances, exhibitions, education programs, and events. Visits annually by more than 208,000 students and teachers distinguished the arts center as the largest arts educator in Georgia.
Research about the mental health benefits of the art field trips and experiences for youth has compelled the Woodruff Arts Center to implement an ambitious architectural project. The new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and PNC PlaySpace project by Atlanta-based architectural firms Perkins & Will and MOSA Architects promises to transform the Woodruff Arts Center and youth programming in Atlanta.
Perkins & Will Project Manager Victoria Walsh, AIA explains, “Woodruff Arts Center will have a more welcoming street presence.” A new, glass Peachtree Street entry will soften the building exterior and allow the public to see guests enjoying a spacious, light-filled lobby and PNC PlaySpace. Free art installations, pop-up performances, and workshops in the PNC PlaySpace will promote unstructured creative play and youth development. MOSA Architects Principal Monica Fenderson, AIA adds, “This space will excite young children.”
Guests will proceed from the lobby into the new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families. The design team is modernizing the old Rich Auditorium as a cutting-edge, flexible auditorium for youth performances. The seating and the stage in the new auditorium can be reconfigured as needed. Formerly unused areas will become green rooms, dressing rooms, and support spaces.
The Alliance Theatre’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Christopher Moses notes the impact of the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and PNC PlaySpace project for the city. “We want a visit to Woodruff Arts Center to be a rite of passage for every child in Atlanta. We are excited to lift young people through the arts.”
For more information about the Woodruff Arts Center and this project, tune into the Uplifting Places podcast hosted by Melody Harclerode on Spotify.
