Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

The Metropolitan Opera House (left) and Avery Fisher Hall (right) at twilight

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a 16.3-acre (6.6 ha) complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side.

Contents

History and facilities

A consortium of civic leaders and others led by, and under the initiative of John D. Rockefeller III, built Lincoln Center as part of the "Lincoln Square Renewal Project" during Robert Moses' program of urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s.[1] Seventeen blocks of ethnic tenement neighborhoods were demolished through eminent domain, forcing out 7,000 families.[2] Respected architects were contacted to design the major buildings on the site, and over the next thirty years the previously blighted area around Lincoln Center became a new cultural hub.[2] Rockefeller was Lincoln Center's inaugural president from 1956 and became its chairman in 1961. He is credited with raising more than half of the $184.5 million in private funds needed to build the complex, including drawing on his own funds; the Rockefeller Brothers Fund also contributed to the project.[1]

Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic in Lincoln Center.

The first structure to be completed and occupied as part of this renewal was the Fordham Law School of Fordham University in 1962. Located between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, from West 60th to West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the Lincoln Center complex was the first gathering of major cultural institutions into a centralized location in an American city.

Lincoln Center cultural institutions also make use of facilities located away from the main campus. In 2004 Lincoln Center was expanded through the addition of Jazz at Lincoln Center's newly built facilities (Frederick P. Rose Hall) at the new Time Warner Center, located a few blocks to the south. In March 2006 Lincoln Center launched construction on a major redevelopment plan that will modernize, renovate, and open up the Lincoln Center campus in time for its 50th anniversary celebration in 2009.

The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, home of the New York City Opera and New York City Ballet.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. (LCPA) is one of the 12 resident organizations listed below, and serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. As a presenter of more than 400 events annually, its programs include American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Emmy Award-winning Live from Lincoln Center.

In July 2006, LCPA announced it will join with publishing company John Wiley & Sons to publish at least 15 books on performing arts, and will draw on Lincoln Center Institute’s educational background and archives.[3]

In March 2006, Lincoln Center launched the 65th Street Project--part of a major redevelopment plan continuing through 2010--to create a new pedestrian promenade designed to improve accessibility and the aesthetics of that area of the campus. Subsequent projects were added which addressed improvements to the main plazas and Columbus Avenue Grand Entrance. Diller Scofidio + Renfro are the designers in association with FX Fowle Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle Architects. Turner Construction Company and the RC Dolner Company are the construction managers for the projects.[4][5]

Performance facilities

Auditorium of the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Interior of the David H. Koch Theater

Other associated and local theatres and facilities

Tenant organizations

Lincoln Center serves as home for 12 arts organizations:

  • Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
  • Film Society of Lincoln Center
  • Jazz at Lincoln Center
  • Juilliard School

Resident organizations

Lincoln Center houses several cultural companies and institutions, including:

  • American Ballet Theatre
  • The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
  • Film Society of Lincoln Center (sponsor of the New York Film Festival)
  • Jazz at Lincoln Center

Architects

Architects who designed buildings at Lincoln Center include:

Historical events

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rockefeller Philanthropy: Lincoln Center
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Roth, Leland M. "American Architecture: A History", Westview Press, 2001.
  3. ↑ Kimberly Maul, "Wiley and Lincoln Center Dance Together", The Book Standard website, July 27, 2006
  4. ↑ Robin Pogrebin, "Glimpsing The Future On 65th St", The New York Times, August 17, 2006
  5. ↑ "Transforming Lincoln Center" on Lincoln Center website
  6. ↑ Nicolai Ouroussoff, "The Greening of Lincoln Center", The New York Times, May 21, 2010

Further reading

External links