Performing Arts Center

Residents and visitors to San Luis Obispo can enjoy a performance at the city's Performing Arts Center, a state-of-the-art facility on the campus of the California Polytechnic State University. The center is a joint project between the school and the city, as well as the Foundation for the Performing Arts. It opened in 1996 and features two performance venues. The Christopher Cohan Center features over 1,200 seates in the Sidney Harman Hall, as well as 180 seats in the Phillips Hall classroom, and the Pavilion which accommodates up to 400 people. The other facility is the Alex and Faye Spano Theatre, capable of seating an audience of nearly 500. The three organizations joined together to give the people of San Luis Obispo a venue where they could enjoy culture presentation sand activities. They believed together they could accomplish far more to enhance the arts community than any of them could achieve on their own. When the Performing Arts Center opened in the fall of 1996, it was to great recognition and celebration. The theatre was dedicated to a number of people who envisioned the projects and to those who helped bring it to life. Today, people enjoy performances at the venues year-round, including their annual holiday performance.