Clark Center for the Performing Arts

The premier venue on the Central Coast for professional and community performing arts programs.

Since opening in 2002, the Clark Center for the Performing Arts has become the Central Coast’s premier venue for world-class, professional performing arts in an intimate setting. Located on the Arroyo Grande High School campus, the Clark Center is a state-of-the-art hub for cultural events serving all the people of our community and their families, as well as an institution for vocational and educational opportunity. A diverse and varied world of creative arts performed in the professional surroundings of the Clark Center provides exuberance, creative vitality, and joy to all those who embrace it. Inspired by Cliff and Mary Lee Clark’s dream of building an auditorium for local students to use for performances, community members raised 9 million dollars to construct the facility which was then donated to the Lucia Mar Unified School District. The Clark Center is jointly operated by the School District, The Clark Center Foundation, who has established an Endowment fund to maintain and make capital improvements on the building, and the Clark Center Association, who sponsors professional touring productions and provides supporting services for all performances.

The Clark Center for the Performing Arts consists of two state-of-the art theatres, the 617 seat Forbes Hall and the approximately 120 seat Studio Theatre. Both theatres are used by various professional and community productions and are available to rent by the Lucia Mar Unified School District.