A new
Takoma Park/Silver Spring Performing Arts Center
(located at the intersection of
Georgia Avenue and East-West Highway) will support the
newly created Silver Spring Arts and Entertainment District.
This center will establish the College as a center for the
performing arts in the down-county area and fill a longstanding
void in the community. It will provide an excellent venue for
county and metro area arts patrons to attend unique professional
public performances and also a venue for events sponsored by
community organizations. The Cultural Arts Center will contain
two performance spaces. The 500-seat music and dance theatre
with a state of the art stage and acoustics will be used
primarily as a rental space/booking house by organizations from
outside the College. The 100-seat theatre will be used by the
Communications and Performing Arts Department for performances
and as a classroom space for speech, theatre, film, and dance
classes. In addition, regional theatre groups and community
organizations will use the theatre.To celebrate and
acknowledge the vibrant and diverse student population and the
surrounding communities, the Center will offer concerts and
events for all ages. Music and dance from various cross-cultural
backgrounds will be a major element in the offerings. Weekend
performances will be scheduled throughout the year and bring in
regional and national groups. The College will pursue
partnerships with area performing groups to offer enriching
educational activities and maximize the use of the center by the
community.
The campus community looks forward to a time when students,
faculty, and staff can come together for large special events
important to campus life. However, even more significant are the
education and enrichment opportunities for students. For many
students, it will be an opportunity to see live professional
performances for the first time. For faculty in a wide variety
of disciplines, it will be an opportunity to supplement and
enrich their teaching through the inclusion of concerts,
theatre, or dance performances that students can conveniently
attend.
Inclusion of the arts in any major urban district can
tremendously impact its economic climate. The diversity of
Montgomery College’s student population alone will serve to
enhance and stimulate the city’s revitalization effort as it
promotes unification of diverse cultures and provides
entrepreneurial and family-based business opportunities for
immigrant, disadvantaged, and other emerging business owners. In
addition, a vibrant arts district generates employment, tourism,
non-profit revenue, commercial revenue, tourist spending, and
capital spending. Montgomery College is pleased to be a major
anchor of the Silver Spring Arts and Entertainment District and
we will continue to provide cultural and educational opportunities
for this community and region.