History of the Alliance for the Arts and the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Bank of America Performing Arts Center
Many talented people, working over the course of many years, helped create the success of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and the Alliance for the Arts. But it all started in 1968 when a local educator, Jeanne Stapp, told the Thousand Oaks City Council that the city needed a community auditorium.
Over the next two decades a number of city officials and local civic leaders examined this need and all the questions that went along with it. How big should the auditorium be? Where should it be built? Who would fund it? Who would run it? Who would use it?
In 1980, a group of citizens formed the Alliance for the Arts (called, in its first year, the Cultural Association of the Greater Conejo) an organization committed to lobbying for the creation of a performing arts center. Dr. Raymond Olson, President of California Lutheran University, was the first Chair of the Alliance’s Board of Directors. The Alliance’s statement of purpose was “to acquire, construct, finance and operate a community auditorium facility for presentation of cultural and educational activities.”
The Alliance Board quickly realized that they would need the city’s partnership to construct the facility and so, working with the Thousand Oaks City Council and the city’s fledgling Redevelopment Agency, the project expanded into a combination arts and local government center. In the mid-1980s local voters passed Measure B, which allowed the project to move ahead provided that $3 million of private financial support could be raised to create an endowment to pay for the on-going operational costs of the arts portion of the facility. In 1989, the Alliance’s Board of Directors voted to raise the $3 million to satisfy the requirements of Measure B.
1994 marked two major milestones: The Alliance for the Arts reached its $3 million goal; and in October the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza had its grand opening. Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Antoine Predock, the Plaza includes the 1,800-seat Fred Kavli Theatre, the 380-seat Scherr Forum, government offices, and the offices for local community and cultural groups, including the Alliance.
With the completion of most of its original mission, the Alliance re-evaluated its operations and vision. In 1995 the Alliance dedicated itself to “develop resources to support and enhance the performing and visual arts” and increased its total fundraising goal to $15 million, a goal the Alliance reached in 1999.
Today the Alliance for the Arts raises funds through major naming opportunities, memberships, sponsorships, special events and planned giving programs. These funds allow the Alliance to increase and operate two endowments for programs and operations at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, give grants to local arts organizations, fund arts-in-education programs, and support selected programs at the Plaza. A new scholarship program is under development.
