A generous donation takes the Tannery’s performing arts center one step closer to becoming a reality
“Our goal is for the Tannery to be, essentially, a cultural magnet as well as an arts center for the whole Central Coast,” says Tannery Art Center Executive Director Rachel Goodman.
The local arts hub is celebrating a recent donation of $100,000 from Santa Cruz-based Plantronics that will go directly toward building a brand new performing arts theater and plaza.
The grant allows the Tannery, which is currently two-thirds of the way complete, to maintain its momentum and move closer to fulfilling its overall plan for a vibrant community cultural center where visitors will be able to enjoy plays and music, work in art studios, and get in touch with their own artistic side through art and dance classes.
The Tannery Arts Center project was initially stimulated by the City of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency, following the closing of the Salz Tannery in 2001, and so far has been developed in phases. Phases I and II—the live/work units, the working studios, and a café—were brought to fruition thanks to $55 million in local, state, and federal funds. The rest of the funding for Phase III, which encompasses the 200-seat performing arts theater and sculpture plaza, is being raised through a combination of foundation, business, and individual support. In meeting their goal, Goodman stresses that each and every individual donation will make a difference.
As for when the performing arts theater may finally be completed, Goodman says, “it’s all about fundraising and getting those individual donations . . . Sometimes grants come through and sometimes they don’t, but if all proceeds as we hope it will, we hope to open in late 2014.”
Because of donations like the recent gift from Plantronics, Goodman says the Tannery is one step closer to opening those theater doors.
