"Bellas Artes de Santurce" | |
Former names | Centro de Bellas Artes de Puerto Rico |
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Address | Ponce de León Ave, Parada 22, Santurce, PR 00940 |
Location | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Coordinates | 18°26′51″N 66°04′09″W / 18.447512°N 66.069267°W |
Owner | Corporación del Centro de las Bellas Artes de Puerto Rico |
Type | Concert hall, Opera house, Theatre, Performing arts center |
Capacity |
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Construction | |
Built | 1970 |
Opened | April 9, 1981 |
Construction cost | $11,372,000 |
Website | |
www |
The Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center, or Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré (CBA) in Spanish, is a multi-use performance centre located Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. It features three main concert and theater halls for plays, ballet, operas and concerts. It was renamed in 1994 after the late Puerto Rican politician and philanthropist Luis A. Ferré.
The Center opened on April 9, 1981 under the administration of then Governor Carlos Romero Barceló (PNP) after 10 years of planning, project financing, and construction. Since then, it has become the most important performing arts venue in the Puerto Rican capital, presenting the highest level of commercial theater in Puerto Rico along with ballets and operas, and also hosting artists such as Plácido Domingo. The Center is home to the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and the annual Casals Festival. Lately, and not without criticism, it has opened its doors to urban music.
The Center features four main concert and theater halls, two eateries and a central outdoor plaza, each with its own unique features:
The Center is surrounded by various art expositions, including murals, paintings, and sculptures. The two largest halls feature art expositions which distinguishes each one:
Near the entrance of the Center, various expositions greet guests and visitors, including a 40-foot (12 m) aluminum sculpture by Luis Torruella titled Melodic Reflection. However, the main art theme of the Center’s entrance are The Muses. These are two separate works of art, one being an assortment of 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) bronze female sculptures along the Juan Morel Campos Plaza, by Annex Burgos; and the second being a large mural at the Center’s façade (pictured above), made from a mixture concrete and crystal stones and designed by Augusto Marín. Each muse represents the different arts and cultures which the Center embraces, including local and classical music, theater, literature, dance, films, architecture, sculptures, and painting.