INTRODUCING THE STELLA ADLER CENTER FOR THE ARTS
The Stella Adler Center for the Arts is a convening place for artists, activists and audiences who come together around meaningful art-making. Celebrating seven decades of contributions to New York City, the Center for the Arts offers performances and conversation with a focus on affordable public access and houses the elite conservatory training program for which its founder’s name has long been associated.
AN ESSENTIAL THEATRICAL LEGACY
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting was founded by one of the most important woman theater artists of the 20th Century. Adler was the only American who studied with Constantine Stanislavsky, positioning her as the sole American in the greatest acting lineage in theater history.
Established in 1949, the Studio has enriched every part of the American theatre, film and performing arts. The studio has since trained many of the brilliant artists of our time, including actors Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Leslie Uggams, Martin Sheen, Elaine Stritch, Benicio del Toro and Warren Beatty, choreographers Alvin Ailey and Jerome Robbins, playwright Horton Foote and director Peter Bogdanovich. Recent graduates include Bryce Dallas Howard, Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael, Xosha Roquemore, Katie Lowes, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Nyambi Nyambi, Jane Levy and Katherine Waterston.
This organization began with a single class taught by a single teacher to an elite group of aspiring artists. In the past 70 years, the studio has grown into a full-fledged cultural center with not only a globally-esteemed professional training conservatory, but also highly innovative community elements that invite all New Yorkers to participate in a vital, American theater tradition. This is in large part due to the vast activity of the Stella Adler Outreach Division, currently the leading arts program provider at the embattled Rikers Island Correctional Facility.
In total, today the studio serves nearly 11,000 students and audience members annually. The studio currently trains over 500 conservatory students each year. The Stella Adler Outreach Division reaches an additional 1500 students annually.
EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT
After negotiating a highly favorable lease as an anchor tenant at 65 Broadway in Lower Manhattan and completing a build out from a raw space to the state of the art facility, the $5 million project is in its final phases.
The studio’s own business model is healthy and strong. Since 1995, under the leadership of President and Artistic Director Tom Oppenheim, the Studio has responsibly expanded its programs and produced fiscal growth. Enrollment has risen 700% and income has increased by 500%. In addition, contributed income has risen 200% in the last six years.
Despite our financial health significant challenges remain. The studio is in the final stages of a capital initiative. The need for major support is more critical now than ever before.
PLAYING A PART
Support is needed to make this transition. Click here to learn more about naming opportunities. Click here to make a secure, online donation now. Please contact Nina Capelli, Director of Cultural Programming at nina(at)stellaadler (dot) com or (212)689-0087 for more information.
