Construction to begin on a more ‘open and inviting’ Woodruff Arts Center

The Woodruff Arts Center will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on the afternoon of Aug. 6 for the opening up of its front door on Peachtree and for the transformation of the Rich Auditorium into the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families.

Atlanta’s major cultural institution has launched a $67 million capital campaign for the project to enhance its campus and to maintain its facilities, which includes the High Museum of Art, the Alliance Theatre and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

“We have raised 80 percent of it,” said Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center, in a recent interview. “We have a path forward on raising the remaining 20 percent of the money that will include new donors and possibly some mainstream marketing to involve more people.”

The focus of the capital campaign will be to serve even more children and families through the offering of a major new play areas as well as having space for performances, rehearsals, events and even galas as often as 365 days a year.

The Woodruff Arts Center will be making a major announcement at the ground-breaking event, which will include Moddelmog, Julianna Cagle of the Goizueta Foundation, Eddie Meyers of PNC Bank and Tony Montag of the Rich’s Foundation.

“The Woodruff Arts Center serves more than one million people a year,” said Moddelmog, who added the goal is to expand cultural offerings to young people. Studies show that students who are exposed to the arts tend to score higher on literacy and do better in school. Moddelmog said studies also have shown the arts also are good for people’s mental health.

“Last year, the surgeon general announced there’s an epidemic among young people of loneliness and persistent sadness,” she said. “Now there’s tons of data for what the arts can do for mental health.”

Armed with that data, the Woodruff Arts Center began looking for ways to broaden its offerings to young people and families.

“It is a mission-driven project. But it also can help us with our financial stability,” Moddelmog said. “The demand for the educational programming is outstripping our capacity at the Alliance and the ASO.”

The campaign has three focus areas: Activating your campus: $34 million; Maintaining our facilities: $26 million; and Protecting our future: $7 million.

The most visible part of the campaign will be activating the campus. 

The Goizueta Stage will be a versatile, multipurpose stage that can have auditorium-style seating or a flat floor for events.

“There can be a play in the morning with space for children with neurodiverse needs,” Moddelmog said. “In the afternoon, the sets retract, and the Atlanta Youth Orchestra can practice or perform in the space. It will be designed for chamber music. There will be flexibility for different purposes. The space also can be used for galas.”

Outside the Goizueta Stage, there will be a signature play area where young people can enjoy art for free throughout the years, Moddelmog said.

A major feature of the campaign will be renewing the grounds of the campus. The Carol and Ramon Tomé Foundation is contributing $5 million to renew the grounds of the campus, including landscaping and new lighting.

Moddelmog assured the statuesque Gingko tree in the front of the campus will remain. But the plan is to build seating around the tree, giving people a greater opportunity to enjoy the space. The same is true for the Rodin Statue, a gift from France after the 1962 Orly crash, which killed 106 Atlanta arts patrons.

“We are going soften the look and feel of the Rodin space,” Moddelmog said. “There will be a lot better lighting around the statue. It will be a contemplative space. It’s about youth and family. My goal is to have it be like a little park inside Midtown — green, sustainable and more beautiful.”

Historically, the Woodruff Arts Center was originally called the Memorial Arts Center in honor of the people killed in the airplane crash. Robert W. Woodruff, then the leader of the Coca-Cola Co., anonymously paid for the building of the Center, which was designed by Atlanta architect Joe Amisano.

“We are not trying to change the basics of the design,” Moddelmog said. “It’s about opening up the Center. Being the center of the arts, we have got to feel more open and inviting.”

The Perkins & Will architectural firm, which has offices across the street from the Center, did the redesign of the front door. Moddelmog said the lead designer, Bruce McEvoy, expressed to her how the goal was to open up the building, but still keep its historic integrity.

Over the past 20 years, the Woodruff Arts Center has been improving its facilities. In 2005, there was the expansion of the High Museum of Art. Five years ago, the Center transformed the space for the Alliance Theatre. And now there’s the campaign for youth and families.

Moddelmog was asked about the status of building a new symphony hall or doing a major enhancement of the current hall, a project that’s been in the works for decades but never materialized.

“Just because we are doing this capital campaign for youth and families and maintenance, it doesn’t mean there can’t be other large expansions on the campus,” she said. “We have to make sure there’s the highest and best use of this campus.”

Then she added: “The ASO Hall, is it their turn now? Yes.”