Enjoy: Culture

The Center

Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2022,the Center for the Arts is the heart of the valley’s art scene.  

// By Sue Muncaster

The last time I snuggled into a red-cushioned seat in the balcony of The Center Theatre with a glass of wine, flashbacks flooded my mind. My eyes filled with tears recalling the memorial service for a much-loved local who died skiing in the Tetons; a Lyle Lovett concert; Skinny Skis’ Avalanche Awareness Nights. Returning to the present, my shy 12-year-old sits next to me waiting for his hero, rock climber Alex Honnold, to recount his free solo of El Capitan.

It’s not just the wide variety of entertainment offered at The Center Theatre that holds a special place in my heart—it’s the hours spent experimenting in The Center’s ceramics studio, the night I got the nerve up to perform as an audience member with the Laff Staff Comedy Improv group and people actually laughed, the kid’s pasta-making cooking classes I taught for Slow Food in the Tetons, the Story Slam I performed at this past summer surrounded by friends. I am part of The Center, and it’s a part of me, and I’m so grateful for Center for the Arts, the 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization with 20 board members that oversees the 78,000 square-foot campus that makes up The Center.

I’m not the only one in the community who feels this way. “The Center is an amazing place that houses so many creative organizations,” says Bronwyn Minton, executive director of the Art Association of Jackson Hole, one of the 22 arts- or education-related organizations that call The Center home. “I feel very lucky to be a part of a community that values the arts in such a meaningful way. On any given day, it is possible to make art, listen to music, look at art, take a dance class, attend a performance, or take a music class, just to name a few.”

The Center is so important today it’s difficult to imagine the valley without it. But, celebrating its 15th birthday in 2022, The Center has existed for less time than it took to plan and build it.

During the pandemic, we were recipients of incredible generosity and astonishing support from our community.” 

—Marty Camino Center for the Arts executive director

In 1991, local arts organizations like the Art Association of Jackson Hole and Dancers’ Workshop, tired of increasing rents at inadequate facilities, spearheaded talks about a large space shared by multiple organizations. A $1,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole kickstarted several years of feasibility studies before the groups incorporated as an overarching effort in 1995 and embarked on the
design and fundraising processes.

The Center campus was built in two stages and was entirely funded by private donations totaling $35 million. The Arts and Education Wing was completed in 2005, and, in March of 2007, a newly acquired nine-foot Steinway grand piano was played for the first public performance in The Center Theatre to celebrate the completion of the Performing Arts Pavillion. (The pianist was Broadway star Franc D’Ambrosio.)

“From the very beginning, the core concept for building The Center was the spirit of collaboration,” says long-time Center for the Arts board member Karen Stewart, who, in 1991, was the executive director of the Art Association. “It was a challenge for so many different boards to buy into the long-term vision,” she says. According to Stewart, early executive directors Candra Day followed by Mark Barry and board president Bill Schwartz all deserve credit for relaying the collective vision that inspired the unprecedented generosity of individual donors.

In the spring of 2020, events were canceled and activity across the campus screeched to a halt. But The Center quickly pivoted, invested in a robust streaming system, and developed the technological expertise to produce virtual events and an online platform for local artists to present their works. In 2020, it conducted 40 virtual events.

As the pandemic unfolded, The Center and all the organizations within it came together to secure rent relief through the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole’s Emergency Response Fund. Further rent relief came when, as a collective, the organizations worked together with a common goal that not one fail. “During the pandemic, we were recipients of incredible generosity and astonishing support from our community,” says Center for the Arts executive director Marty Camino. Today, each organization that calls The Center home is stronger than ever, allowing the Center for the Arts itself to realize its stated mission: “To connect our creative community by providing a dedicated campus, supporting excellent programing, and nurturing a collaborative spirit.” Here are a few of The Center’s residents.

DID YOU KNOW…

• The design of the Performing Arts Pavilion was a collaboration between Jackson-based Carney Logan Burke Architects and Stephen Dynia Architects. GE Johnson Construction Company made the design a reality, even if the temperatures dipped down to 17 degrees during the last pour of concrete.
• The Center Theatre hosts drama, dance, music, movie screenings, and educational events. The theatre is intimate yet spacious: 525 seats. Long-time board members Karen Stewart and Agnes Bourne say past favorite performances include John Prine, the Diavlo Dance Company, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Off Square Theatre’s Peter Pan, when local kids “flew” through the air.
• The 100-seat Black Box Theatre is utilized for rehearsals, smaller productions like those by Riot Act, Inc., and Laff Staff comedy improv shows.
• Encircled by a bridge above and massive picture windows, the breezy Lobby has a bar area and hosts receptions, art and trade shows, and social events.
• The 1.2-acre Center Lawn is a community gathering space. When weather permits and/or Covid requires, the lawn hosts everything from Thin Air Shakespeare to the Grand Teton Music Festival, the People’s Market farmer’s market, Art Fairs, and Teton County Library Story Slams.
• Ever-changing public art is installed in The Courtyard, an outdoor space in the middle of the campus.