The Shakespeare Center

Inspires, Empowers and Serves

Our Comprehensive Campaign to ensure that the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles has the facilities and resources needed to continue its 40 year legacy of producing award-winning, contemporary interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays and other great works while serving the community through nationally recognized workforce training, arts employment, youth development, and arts education programs.

Overview

The Shakespeare Center is currently engaged in a multi-year comprehensive campaign to transform its existing building into a flexible, 300-seat multimedia theater and storytelling space that improves on its nearly 40-year history as an arts education and workforce training center dedicated to youth, military veterans, and underserved communities. When completed, our project will result in increased access to arts and cultural enrichment for underserved communities; measurable economic development; improved business viability and public safety; and long-term systems change. Our newly renovated facility will present a full season of professional theatrical productions and student matinees for Title 1 schools; provide workforce training, art employment, and arts education programs for veterans, underserved youth, and teachers; and serve as a resource for independent theater companies and entertainment professionals.

We have occupied our current facility since 2000 and recognize that the socio-economic challenges facing our surrounding communities of Downtown LA, Rampart Village, Westlake, and Echo Park have only increased as the population increases. The SCLA is located in a census tract that falls within the lowest quartile of the California Healthy Places Index®, with community conditions ranked at 9.86 out of 100. According to the Community Development Financial Institutions PolicyMap, our corridor is categorized as being in Severe Distress with a 33% poverty rate and 12% unemployment. This demonstrates the challenges faced by the residents, schools and businesses of our neighborhood

The SCLA is proud of the impact we have made here in Los Angeles and in the American Theater over these past decades. We also understand that we must continue to meet the moment, deepen our relationships with our neighbors, and meet the essential needs of Los Angeles residents, specifically those who live in close proximity to us.

When our facility’s capital improvements are completed, the new 22,000 sq. ft. Shakespeare Center will include:

A state of the art 300-seat multimedia performance space fully equipped and convertible to a functioning 7,000 square foot rental soundstage.

A new theater ceiling height of 30 feet (current is 16 ft.) allowing for increased production capabilities.

Workforce training center and learning labs that will provide multiple theater based vocational training programs for underserved youth; under-resourced educators and teaching artists; chronically unemployed military veterans; and formerly incarcerated community members.

“The Shakespeare Center’s Penny University,” which will offer free arts and cultural enrichment programs such as lectures, art exhibits, film screenings, readings, and more throughout the year.

A coffee shop, Shakespeare library and gift shop open to the public daily.

To complete construction on time, reopen the facility, and fully resource our expanded programming, we, along with our artists, donors and strategic partners, have launched this Comprehensive Campaign which represents our institutional commitment to ensuring that the SCLA remains a permanent home for inspiring mainstage productions; empowering workforce training and arts education programs; and community serving initiatives that revitalize and uplift our surrounding neighborhood.

Urgently Needed Expansion

The Shakespeare Center is uniquely positioned and extremely fortunate to be a debt-free, sole owner of its downtown facility located on First Street, just a few blocks northwest of Bunker Hill, home of the Grand Ave. Cultural District. Originally constructed as a warehouse and acquired by the company in 2000, the most significant deficiency of the space was a ceiling height of only 16 feet, severely limiting the ability to present high-quality theatrical productions and to schedule other potential commercial uses. It also lacked adequate facilities to serve the increased community demand for our workforce training and arts education programs.

Current Stakeholders

To date, SCLA has secured more than $18 million for the project, including generous contributions from The Ahmanson Foundation; the California Arts Council with the support of Senator María Elena Durazo; the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration; the City of Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development Department; The Perenchio Foundation; and the Max H. Gluck Foundation.

Other major stakeholders include the Los Angeles Unified School District; Los Angeles Development Fund; U.S.VETS; the offices of Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, First District and L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, District 1; the City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs and LA County Department of Arts and Culture.

Capital Improvement Phases and Project Status

Anticipated Community Impact

As the SCLA enters its fourth decade, it is clear that we must commit to providing solutions to the challenges facing our neighborhood while building a theater for the future, not a model of the past. This means creating a permanent home for new and innovative multimedia storytelling that embraces and reflects the diverse voices of our community; provides workforce training and employment in the arts to those who need it most; and supports schools that lack professional development resources and educational tools. We will also be the leader of an economic development and neighborhood revitalization initiative that will bring new business and cultural investment to our corridor while keeping our community’s voice at the center of that development.

To support this effort, SCLA received New Market Tax Credit financing in recognition of our deep commitment to providing opportunities for community empowerment through the arts. Obtaining this financing means that, upon completion of the renovation, we must substantially increase the scale and scope of the community benefits we offer while serving as a leading stakeholder in the economic development of our surrounding area.

Construction Jobs: 12 FTEs
Permanent Job Retention (within 24 months of project completion): 20 FTEs