The Culver Center of the Arts
The Culver Center of the Arts is an area that hosts a weekly film program, theatrical performances using a dynamic setting, dance performances, musical performances and art installations. All of the artists are recognized as playing a huge part in society, and because of that the art center also has a lot of lecture programs, community forums with artists, musicians, dancers, playwrights, film makers, and symposia’s. The main area of this center is made up of a huge atrium gallery that is under a 40-foot-high skylight, a 72 seat screening room, a café, and the Sweeney Art Gallery. Just one level up is the Media lab, a black box that is equipped with a green screen, sound recording studio, and 2 dance studios that have sprung wood floors. The lowest level is where the Keystone-Mast Collection of stereographs are preserved in seismically isolated cabinets that are state of the art.
There is a lot within the Culver Center of the Arts. There are installations, theatrical, musical, and dance performances, exhibitions, independent and foreign film program, and spoken word programs. This art center explores the art of our time using a dynamic setting.
The art center has three levels. The ground floor is home to the Sweeney Art Gallery, a brand-new café, a screening room, and a unique atrium gallery that lies under a unique skylight. On the second level where the Culver Media Lab is located, the university students, visiting artists, and faculty as well as filmmakers are able to explore state of the art digital technology while the theater, dance, and music students and faculty are able to rehearse in studios that are equipped with sprung wood floors and are able to work out their performances using the sound laboratory and black box video area. Located in the basement is where the Museum of Photography holds their world’s treasure of the Keystone-Mast glass plate stereo collection which is held within seismically isolated cabinets which are very state of the art and keeps the collection well preserved.
Being able to recognize that artists are playing a huge part in society, the Culver Art Center has plenty of innovative programs of symposia, lectures, and even community forums and dialogues with musicians, dancers, playwrights, film makers, and artists. This art center is a huge presentation site that is allowing a huge cultural presence and very inclusive institution. It is here that a person can encounter artists and art from all over the world as well as from Southern California.
The Culver Center was originally a gift from the Culver Family. This center was a transformation from the 1895 Rouse Department Store, which was an architectural jewel for Riverside and now it is the Culver Art Center and it has been supported by University of California Riverside, the city of Riverside, and private donors. The reuse of the building helps to boost the core of downtown, and bridges the university and the community and combines history and digital technology of the 21st century.