Lineage Performing Arts Center received funding to purchase high-efficiency LED stage lighting.
In fall 2022, PCF awarded ’s $511,000 in Capital Grant funding to 24 organizations. Of that total, $170,000 was awarded to seven Arts & Culture organizations in the greater Pasadena area. As arts organizations begin to regain footing following disruptive pandemic closures, they recognize that audiences have new expectations for theater experiences and new needs for creative community spaces. Seven of PCF’s 24 Capital Grant recipients received funding to enhance their delivery of the arts and provide new opportunities to build community. Here, we profile a few of them.
Pasadena Conservatory of Music
Pasadena Conservatory of Music (PCM) has been awarded PCF’s 2022 Capital Campaign Grant Award of $50,000 in support of the organization’s Common Ground Campaign, which will create several new classrooms and studios. The signature piece of the campaign will be a new courtyard and a 140-seat amphitheater that will provide new possibilities for less formal performances than those held inside PCM.s signature venue, Barrett Hall. The courtyard and amphitheater will become the heart of the school and strengthen the sense of community on campus.
Lineage Performing Arts
Lineage moved into a new location in early 2020 with the goal of establishing an arts space to share with the community and other nonprofits in northwest Pasadena, an area lacking in community art spaces. Programming here centers on equitable access to arts education and includes Dance with Joy classes and performances for those with neurological challenges like Parkinson’s, MS, and Alzheimer’s. PCF’s Capital funding will help the center purchase high-efficiency LED stage lighting and will elevate the stage experience for the center and its community partners.
A Noise Within
In addition to producing world-class performances of classical theatre, A Noise Within runs robust education programs committed to inspiring diverse audiences of all ages. ANW will use its Capital Grant award to enhance its storytelling ability with new LCD laser projector and upgraded speaker system for its Redmond Stage. The equipment will provide better creative flexibility by augmenting scenic and lighting design elements.
LA Children’s Chorus (LACC)
For 37 years, the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) been headquartered at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, holding classes and rehearsals there for its seven choirs and approximately 750 participants ages 7-18. LACC has been using cumbersome, unstable, and squeaky choral risers that are nearly 30 years old. With its Capital Grant award, LACC will be able to purchase a new set of choral risers that are lightweight, easy to assemble, and mobile.
Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena Playhouse’s 2021 raucous production of “Head Over Heels” highlighted a new phenomenon in staging live theater performances: Audiences are looking for “experiential productions” that foster more intimacy and interaction. At the Playhouse, productions have historically been limited to the proscenium; in recent years, however, productions have extended into audience spaces. That means lighting and support positions have to keep up with the times too. The Playhouse will use its Capital Grant funding to purchase ceiling trusses and motors that service new lighting and sound equipment creating more production opportunities.
Red Hen Press
Red Hen Press publishes a wide range of literature and promotes literacy in the Altadena community and beyond by hosting readings and literary events. The PCF Capital Grant award will help the organization upgrade its existing event space with full audio-visual offerings to give Red Hen Press and local partner organizations a flexible, multimedia-ready venue to stage performances and build community.