Cal Arts prepares its 'beast'
Apparently the California Institute of the Arts has a penchant for naming its performing arts venues after animals.
First came REDCAT. (OK, it’s technically the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater at Walt Disney Concert Hall, but who actually calls it that?) Now the cutting-edge arts school is looking into the jaws of the Wild Beast, a new music pavilion soon to open on the school’s Valencia campus.
CalArts recently announced a gift of $500,000 from the S. Mark Taper Foundation that will help close the funding gap for the facility, which has an estimated cost of $4 million and was designed by Culver City’s Hodgetts + Fung architecture firm. The school has about $600,000 left to raise toward the ongoing construction. CalArts President Steven D. Lavine said the building will have a “soft” opening for students and staff in late March, with a grand opening planned for fall. The performers are yet to be announced.
