Housed in the magnificent 19th century Rouse Building, a former department store, the long-anticipated center joins the UCR/California Museum of Photography in the ARTSblock, part of UC Riverside’s continuing effort to provide a meeting point for arts at the university and in the community. The center, located at 3834 Main St., will be the new home of the Sweeney Art Gallery and will provide space for public performances and film screenings as well as dance and digital studios for faculty, students and community members.
The gala reception on Saturday, Oct. 9, will feature special entertainment and food from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $150 per person. The downloadable order form is available online at culvercenter.ucr.edu. For information call (951) 827-4290.
Two days of public events will kick off the grand opening celebration with performances by Riverside community arts groups on Thursday, Oct. 7, and a day of films on Friday, Oct. 8, featuring student, Hollywood and foreign films. Events both days will be free. Schedules will be announced later.
This summer, Countdown to Culver! events will introduce the community to the new facility. Those events include:
- First Thursday ArtsWalk: July 1, 7-9 p.m., Collage Dance Theatre; Aug. 5, to be announced; and Sept. 2, Evening of Light: A live performance celebrating art and sound, an avant-garde evening of sound and video performance. Events are free and will be on the pedestrian mall in front of the Culver Center.
- “Merchant of Venice”: Directed by Robin Russin, UCR associate professor of theatre. The 3 Theatre Group production of the Shakespeare classic is set in Venice, Calif. Haibo Yu, UCR associate professor of theatre, is the set designer. Performances will be in the Atrium Gallery at 8 p.m. July 9-11 and 16-18. Regular admission is $15; students/seniors/military tickets are $10. Seating is limited. Call (951) 313-4026 for reservations. Ticket information also is available at culvercenter.ucr.edu/index.php?content=countdown.
Renovation of the two-story, 44,000-square-foot Rouse Building cost $18 million and was funded through a combination of private and public money. Among the center’s features are: first floor – an 80-seat film and video screening room, atrium gallery for installation, music and performance, and the Sweeney Art Gallery; second floor – the Culver Arts Research Lab for university-based projects that advance artistic, cultural and performative research and study at UCR; and basement – facilities devoted to exhibition and performance support and collections, including seismically stable facilities to store the world-renown Keystone-Mast collection of stereoscopic glass negatives.
