Irving Arts Center – Irving, Texas
Named “Best in the Burbs” by D Magazine, the Irving Arts Center hosts 275 events a year in a variety of venues. Irving Arts Center, located in Irving, Texas, is a 10-acre art center that caters to all ages within the community. The center contains over 91,500 square feet of performing and visual arts space which includes a 3,800 square-foot Main Gallery.
The Main Gallery host over 20 exhibits throughout the year. In 2007, the art center became an affiliate with the Smithsonian Institution, which makes the Irving Arts Center one out of 160 Smithsonian Affiliates nationwide.
The 10-acre center features theaters, classrooms, reception halls, a sculpture garden, and other areas for the community. Irving Arts Center features four galleries that are free and open to the public. They host a variety of artwork from local and regional artists, along with traveling shows from the Smithsonian Museum and other affiliates around the country.
The beginning of the Irving Arts Center started as early as the 1980s when an Irving city artboard was created to come up with creative ideas for the community by the city council. The Center was completed sometime in the 1990s.
The Irving Art Center is home to eleven cultural organizations. These organizations operate independently from the Irving Art Center Board but use the facility to host activities and events.
The current eleven Resident Arts Organizations are New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving, Irving Symphony Orchestra, Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Stage, Irving Symphonic Band, ICT MainStage, Momentum Dance Company, Entertainment Series of Irving, Irving Chorale, Irving Black Arts Council, and Irving Art Association.
These organizations are funded by the Residential Arts Fund. The purpose of the fund is to provide the opportunity for organizational assistance support to the resident arts organizations whose efforts brought the Irving Arts Center into existence and which meet the eligibility requirements as established by the Irving Arts Board and the City of Irving.
The Irving Arts Center’s complex houses four galleries, two theaters, an outdoor sculpture garden, and a variety of meeting spaces on a 10-acre site. As a member of the Smithsonian Affiliations program, the Arts Center often presents traveling exhibitions to the Smithsonian Institution as well as a mix of contemporary and traditional exhibitions from established and emerging artists.
The outdoor sculpture garden is home to several permanent and temporary installations, including Star Flower by world-renowned sculptor James Surls. The Arts Center is home to two fully-equipped theaters that feature more than 200 performances annually. Twelve Founding Organizations representing symphonies, cultural groups, choruses, theater, and ballet call the Irving Arts Center home.
Irving Arts Center is the home of arts and culture for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The 10-acre complex houses two theaters, four galleries, and a sculpture garden, along with multifunctional rooms and event facilities. It also features performances and exhibits by both local and internationally-renowned artists.
The 2-acre sculpture garden allows visitors to enjoy a beautiful natural setting while viewing an impressive permanent collection created by local artists and youth, and the garden also displays pieces on loan from around the world. The center offers a variety of free programs for children and families as well as a Summer Adventure Camp for ages 4-18.