Tempe Center for the Arts
Tempe Center for the Arts (TCA) is a publicly owned performing and visual arts center in Tempe, Arizona. It opened in September 2007 and houses a 600-seat proscenium theater, a 200-seat studio theater and a 3,500-square-foot gallery. Its Lakeside Room seats 200 and overlooks Tempe Town Lake, with views of the Papago Buttes and Camelback Mountain. Architecture. The building was designed by Barton Myers Associates of Los Angeles and Architekton of Tempe. A citizens group, formed in 1998, spearheaded a ballot initiative to create an arts center. The resulting increase in  the sales tax of 0.1% was used to fund seed money for the management, design, and construction of the facility. At the entrance, environmental designer Ned Kahn uses 8,000 embedded marbles and tiny mirrors to create a shimmery sunlit effect at the Center’s marquee. He echoes this shimmering effect on the west wall of the Lakeside room where an array of mirrors captures and digitizes the available light reflecting off the Center’s negative edge pool.[https://www.archdaily.com/160142/tempe-center-for-the-arts-architekton [1<nowiki>]</nowiki>] Unlike most theaters, this lobby is open to the public without a ticket  and becomes a popular gathering place that brings art and community together while enhancing the Tempe landscape, promoting positive quality of life issues related to sustainability, recreation, and culture.[https://www.archdaily.com/160142/tempe-center-for-the-arts-architekton [1<nowiki>]</nowiki>] A management firm (Kitchell CEM) was selected by the city government to oversee a three-phase design competition, leading to the selection of the design team in 2000. Following public input, the design was completed in 2003. Construction began in April 2004 and took 40 months. The Center was completed in August 2007, with a grand opening on September 9, 2007 . The Center features a roof made of complex geometric folded plates. The roof is visible from the surrounding freeways and the man-made Tempe Town Lake, which occupies the natural watercourse of the Salt River, immediately adjacent to the site. It is also visible by many airplanes landing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, two miles west of the building. Five public art pieces were included in the design: The Center includes the Gallery at TCA, a visual arts gallery featuring free exhibits of two- and three-dimensional artwork by local and internationally recognized artists. Past Resident Artists. Home to  city-produced programs: