The Grand is an amazing facility due to its thoughtful development as a professional arts organization and educative center within city government. It is also an important public resource as an economic redevelopment project in downtown Tracy. Hundreds of community leaders, arts patrons, educators and parents contributed to the planning process that ultimately designed the amenities and programming of the center.
This municipal interdisciplinary arts center is the only one of its kind in the state of California offering professional and community-based fine arts programming through arts education, exhibitions, performances and rentals of all kinds in a single complex, and is one of only a small network of similar facilities in America.
The more than 37,000-square-foot facility opened in September of 2007, hosts 50,000 patrons a year and is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary season in 2016-2017. The Center is owned and operated by the City of Tracy and managed by the Cultural Arts Division in the city manager’s office.
The Grand has been honored with awards from The California Heritage Council and the California Preservation Foundation and has been acknowledged in the State Legislature and U.S. Congress. The Center was recognized nationally as one of 50 unique and important cultural redevelopment projects studied in 2010. The information gained from this research project assists in the development of new art and cultural centers in communities across America.
The Cultural Arts Division staff is available to consult with arts and cultural groups, government and planning professionals seeking information for use in their own projects. Public tours and technical/operational site visits are offered.
The Grand Theatre Center for the Arts is a member organization of Americans for the Arts and the Theatre Historical Society of America, and supports the advocacy and programming of the California Arts Council and the Creative Work Fund.
For more information on the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, call (209) 831-6858.