Imagine a beautiful, contemporary performing arts center in Beaverton, where diverse audiences engage with a wide variety of intercultural and educational programming. Picture a place that’s busy throughout the week, with opportunities for audiences of all ages to come together around the arts. Feel the draw of a venue that attracts regional artistic groups and national touring programs as it drives the region’s economic and cultural vitality. The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts (PRCA) will celebrate our human need to create, to grow and to become our best selves.
Though our region is distinguished by human diversity, we lack a public venue that truly knits together our vibrant, global community. We don’t yet have a place to come together to learn, entertain and be entertained, challenge our assumptions, refresh our spirits, and tap into our deepest selves. As diversity defines us, the arts will unite us.
The arts support achievement in school, bolster skills demanded of a 21st century workforce, and enrich the lives of young people and communities. As our culture grows increasingly digital and technology-focused, the arts offer children a way to engage with the world around them through a human-centric lens.
*Preparing Students for the Next America: The Benefits of an Arts Education (2013)
The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts will help retain entertainment dollars that residents, tourists and visitors spend outside our area. In 2015 alone, the nonprofit arts sector generated $21 million in total economic activity in Washington County.* A well-known arts and cultural destination that’s busy throughout the week benefits surrounding retail shops, restaurants, hotels and other local businesses.
*Arts and Economic Prosperity 5, Americans for the Arts.
This world-class venue and gathering place is coming to life through the collaborative efforts and passionate commitment of an already strong public/private partnership. In July 2018, the Beaverton Arts Foundation received a generous gift of $13 million to launch the project forward — and with this news, the facility was officially named the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts.
Pat Reser’s transformative investment provides nearly one-third of the $48.2 million needed to build the Center. Another $24 million will be funded by public sources, including a land donation and a new City Transient Lodging Tax (TLT). (No local income or property taxes are being used to fund the Center.) In total, funding for 98% of the construction costs has already been identified through public and private philanthropic investment. See our supporters.
"It’s been both a personal dream and a community-driven vision to have a dedicated home for arts and culture in Beaverton – a stage for inspiration and creativity to shine, a place for residents and visitors to feel connected. It will be our city’s jewel."
- Mayor Denny Doyle, City of Beaverton
"Beaverton is an international community. A Center for the Arts gives us a sacred space to learn about our different cultures, to feed our souls, to widen our perspective. It provides an opportunity to be educated, entertained and informed, offering a richness that far exceeds our daily routine."
- Pat Reser, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Beaverton Arts Foundation
"As a large employer in the Washington County area, Nike’s overall footprint provides opportunities for business-related visits to the area drawing from a global environment. The addition of a regional performing arts center in Beaverton will serve to enhance the art, culture and tourism options available to our business travelers as well as employees, community residents and visitors."
- Julia Brim Edwards, NIKE Senior Director, Global Strategy & Operations
"We know that arts impact communities in deep, meaningful and measurable ways. Arts of all types help to educate, entertain, bring together neighbors, newcomers and tourists, and ultimately celebrate the immense and beautiful assets of our diverse and culturally rich community."
- Lorraine Clarno, President/CEO, Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce
"The Center will bring the greater Beaverton community together to celebrate the arts, encourage and support diversity, provide opportunities for cultural exchanges, offer events that educate and have a positive impact on the community."
- Stephen Ronshaugen Galván, Artistic Director, ISing Choir
"It’s a game changer. A much-needed and beautifully-designed space. At 550 seats, the Center will hit the sweet spot as an intimate space for many arts groups, and in my experience, become a catalyst to spur business growth in the area. I applaud the City of Beaverton for investing in the future of the arts and the regional economy in a big way."
- David Machado, Portland chef and restaurateur
"The [Center] is a welcome addition to the portfolio of arts and culture facilities in the region. It has ability to shape the future of the arts on the west side and appears positioned to become a premiere destination. I’m excited by the potential."
- Scott Showalter, President and CEO, Oregon Symphony
The balance of the funds needed for construction is being secured through private fundraising sources. All that remains to close the final gap and move the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts across the finish line is a collective push from individuals like YOU.
When you join the movement as a donor or volunteer, you’ll be part of the campaign that brings years of planning and effort to a spectacular result. Together, we’ll transform the future of this community and region!
Find us on Facebook and Instagram to get Campaign updates, read stories about the arts’ positive impact, and celebrate talent in our own backyard.