Celebrate the Harris Center's Fifth Anniversary in Folsom
Mar 08, 2016 09:59AM ● By David Norby
Image courtesy of the Harris Center
The Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College opened five years ago, and while the facility has seen over 1500 performances and three quarter million visitors, very few people have gotten backstage to see how this national caliber arts facility works. To commemorate the anniversary, the Harris Center for the Arts is throwing open the doors and inviting the community in to discover the facility front stage and back.
On Saturday, March 12, 2016, from 9 am to 3 pm, the Harris Center’s Open House will offer a chance to get a “behind-the-scenes” look at the Center and its operations, while learning about the many programs that bring it to life. A family-friendly event for all ages, members of the community can attend for the entire day, or just come for an hour or two. Admission and parking is free. Among the activities planned for the day:
- Tours of the facility
- Arts Organization Fair with representatives from over 20 community groups that perform in the facility, as well as Folsom Lake College educational arts programs
- 5th Anniversary Exhibit in the Center’s Bank of America Gallery that provides an overview of the Center’s development, construction and first five years of programs
- “Tech talks” throughout the day on the Center’s Acoustics, Digital Sound Systems, Computerized Theatrical Lighting Systems, Recording Studio, Theatrical Flying System, Orchestra Lift, as well as How Touring Artists Are Booked, Careers in the Arts, and Folsom Lake College Arts Programs
- Open Dance Rehearsal in Black Box, Monoprint Workshop & Student Art Show in Visual Arts Lab, Set Construction in Scene Shop, etc.
Dave Pier, who has served as Executive Director of the Harris Center since 2010, notes, “of course, the goal of any arts facility is to focus the attention of the audience towards the art on stage, while rendering the work backstage invisible. At the same time, the magic that takes place behind-the-scenes is fascinating and I think the community will enjoy learning more about the arts facility and its programs that they have so warmly embraced over the last five years.”
The $50 million performing arts center opened on the Folsom Lake College campus on February 11, 2011. Perched on the side of a prominent hill in Folsom, the venue boasts three distinct stages under one roof. A home for regional arts organizations as well as a venue hosting international touring artists, it also serves as an arts laboratory for students and campus faculty. Since opening in 2011, the total economic impact of the Harris Center’s operations on the Sacramento region has already exceeded $45 million. (Source: Americans for the Arts Economic Impact calculator)
The state-of-the-art regional performing arts center boasts three intimate venues with outstanding acoustics, an art gallery, a recording studio, elegant teaching spaces, plenty of safe parking and all the other amenities of a world-class performing arts venue. “The Mondavi Center and Folsom’s Harris Center both … boast extraordinary facilities as well as arts-presenting organizations that fill their schedules” (from an op-ed by Sactown Magazine’s co-publisher Rob Turner as quoted in the Sacramento Bee).
The journey to build the regional performing arts center began in 2002 with the passage of Measure A and Proposition 47. Together, they provided funding to expand building of facilities for Folsom Lake College, including initial funds for a theater. A feasibility study followed in 2003 validating the need for a facility that could also serve as a regional arts center for the general community, and a formal proposal for such a facility was approved by the Los Rios Community College District in 2004. Construction began in 2008, and by November 2010, the venue was ready to begin ticket sales. The facility opened as Three Stages at Folsom Lake College on February 11, 2011 with a performance of “A Chorus Line.” In August 2012, the facility’s name was changed to the Harris Center for the Arts, honoring LRCCD Chancellor Brice Harris at the time of his retirement.
From the start, the Center has been widely recognized, receiving the Sacramento Region Builders Association Project of the Year in 2011, the Sacramento Business Journal’s Community Impact award for 2011-2012, the International Association of Business Communicators Sacramento Region First Place Crystal Awards for both Brand and Marketing Communications, and the Arts and Business Council of Sacramento’s Arts Management Excellence Award in 2012, as well as annual “Best of” awards from regional media.