About Chandler Center for the Arts

A product of community leadership, clear vision and unwavering determination, the Chandler Center for the Arts is a testament to Chandler’s passionate commitment to the arts. Chandler Center for the Arts opened in 1989 as a shared facility between the City of Chandler and the Chandler Unified School District. Built with the generous support of the community, the Center marks the collaboration of a world-class team of architects, designers, and acousticians.

The Center is equipped with three theatres and a 2,000 square foot exhibition gallery. With a total seating capacity of 1,500, the unique design of the Center allows for two rear sections of the main auditorium to rotate 180 degrees to become two more intimate performance spaces: The 350-seat Hal Bogle Theatre and the 250-seat Recital Hall.

Superb Acoustical Setting Designed by Dr. Wendell Rossman of RSGS Architects, the Center is an acoustical masterpiece, providing a superb quality of sound for live performances. Patrons and artists alike have hailed the Center’s acoustics as being among the best in the country and world. The walls between the separate performance areas prevent sound interference, thus allowing up to three productions to run simultaneously.

The facility is used Monday through Thursday primarily for school arts curriculum and other school activities, and Friday through Sunday for City/or public performances. In 1989, the City contracted with the Chandler Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit corporation, to serve as the programming and fundraising entity of the Chandler Center for the Arts. Under this scenario, the Center represents one of the most unique organizational structures in the country.

Over the past twenty-one years , thousands of patrons have been entertained, educated, thrilled and inspired in this beautifully designed and elegantly accommodating facility enjoying a broad range of programming, including an array of all genres of music – jazz, country, rock, adult contemporary, big band- to dance, comedy, drama, family programming and many other special events.

The Center offers many artistic programs that inspire and motivate young people. Last year more than 150,000 students of all ages participated in arts educational programs that enhanced their studies, presented new ideas, and enriched their lives.

The Center is the only large indoor cultural venue in Chandler, and one of the only venues in the Valley that is able to provide quality programming at a highly competitive cost.

In 1997, the Center opened a satellite space known as the Vision Gallery in historic downtown Chandler.

The Vision Gallery is a non-profit art gallery managed by the Chandler Cultural Foundation. Exhibits are rotated on a regular basis. A portion of all art sales are used to fund the VISION KIDZ Program, a series of FREE art education workshops offered to the community. All classes are taught by professional artists and are underwritten by individuals, corporations and grants underwriting.

For its innovative ideas, outstanding educational, visual and performing arts programs and its management excellence, the Chandler Center for the Arts was honored in 2006 with the Governor’s Arts Award.

In 2008, Chandler voters approved a combined total of $6.7 million in bond funding to update the Center’s infrastructure and theatrical components in the nearly 20-year-old facility. In 2009-2010 the Center underwent renovations that included the replacement of the Center’s rigging systems, ADA improvements, air conditioning upgrades, seating refurbishment, lobby floor remediation, installation of an orchestra lift and other facility related refurbishments. In September 2010, Grand Re-Opening events were attended by over 5,000 people.