Lincoln Center at 50 !

On May 14, 1959, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower broke ground near Broadway and 64th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The project was hailed as a “great cultural adventure.” Envisioned as the largest and most ambitious of any performing arts complex in the world. Lincoln Center’s (LCPA) was established with a mission of bringing the finest possible performing arts to the broadest possible audience in many forms as possible.

Lincoln Center was considered a radical idea at the time not only because of its upper westside location but also for its ambitious idea of housing so many Performing Arts Campuses in one location and calling for both educational and performing arts institutions also in one location. The Center grew out of an unprecedented public, private, and artistic partnership that began in 1955 after the 16 acer Lincoln Square area was designated for urban renewal.

Lincoln Center is comprised of the following twelve organizations: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (June 22, 1956); New York Philharmonic (November 29, 1956); The Juilliard School (February 1, 1957); The Metropolitan Opera (February 21, 1957); New York City Ballet and New York City Opera (City Center of Music and Drama, Inc., April 12, 1965); New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (November 26, 1965); The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (January 1, 1973); The Film Society of Lincoln Center (November 4, 1974); Lincoln Center Theater (July 1, 1985); School of American Ballet (May 4, 1987); Jazz at Lincoln Center (July 1, 1996).

Arts education continues to play an essential role; Lincoln Center’s educational activities reach over one million students each year. While millions of people are able to experience the magic of Lincoln Center through the “Live From Lincoln Center”, programs or The Metropolitan Opera’s series of Live in HD transmissions into movie theaters, and also through performance radio broadcasts.

Lincoln Center is currently undergoing an overall revitalization initiative to renovate, modernize and open up the 16-acre campus. The massive face lift and modernization are long in the making. With renovation work being undertaken on many of the 12 campuses with a major emphasis on the West 65th Street Glass project and the main fountain plaza area .

Lincoln Center greets nearly five million annual visitors while thousands of artists and administrators study ,perform, or work there. Over the years Lincoln Center has been the home of many storied artists, as well as students who look to continue to write new chapters of Lincoln Center’s history on its newly transformed campus for the next 50 years.

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