The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is a performing arts center located in Miami, Florida. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States.
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- Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
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- Miami, US
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is a performing arts center located in Miami, Florida. It is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. According to Arts Management Magazine, the Arsht Center presents artists from around the world, innovative programming from its three resident companies and local arts partners, free community events that reflect Miami's identity and arts education experiences for thousands of Miami children each year. Family Fest, Free Gospel Sundays, CommuniTea LGBTQ+ celebration and Heritage Fest are among dozens of free events the Arsht Center presents to bring together people from all walks of life to celebrate each other through the live performing arts. Since 2020, the Arsht Center has presented more than 100 pop-up performances at hospitals, parks and libraries in communities throughout Miami-Dade County. The center was partly built on the site of a former Sears department store; an Art Deco building constructed in 1929, predating the Art Deco hotels on Ocean Drive. It was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1997 as Sears, Roebuck and Company Department Store. However, by 2001, the only surviving part of the original structure was the seven-story tower designed by Sears as its store's grand entrance. The department store space itself had been demolished and developers decided to preserve the tower and incorporate it into the new performing arts center. The Center opened as the Carnival Center on October 5, 2006, with performers, politicians and movie stars attending, including Gloria Estefan, Jeb Bush, Andy García, and Bernadette Peters. On January 10, 2008, it was announced that philanthropist and business leader Adrienne Arsht donated $30 million to the facility that would make it financially stable. In recognition of the gift, the former Carnival Center for the Performing Arts was renamed The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-D