Imagine strolling by your community arts center on a warm summer evening, and gathering with friends and neighbors to hear tunes from a new local folk singer, or high school jazz combo, or even take in a poetry reading. Our dream is to open our front yard to the community as an intimate, casual gathering space to support local performing artists, student groups, and other casual community gatherings.
Last summer, our art camp families enjoyed weekly performances in a cozy, yet temporary staging area in the front yard, and the local community came together here for our annual Lemonade Summer Social. With so much enthusiasm for more of these kinds of outdoor community events and an interest in bringing back Munroe Center Stage after the pandemic, we started to consider how to make the front yard more welcoming to all, and at same time, upgrade the space with an improved landscape and full accessibility as well.
Enter our treasured, long-time board member, Bob Adams, to imagine formalizing this space in a more sustainable way. Bob trained with acclaimed architect Frei Otto in 1963 at MIT, and his work influenced this design of a more permanent canopy and a stage that would be fully accessible to all performers and campers.
In the fall of 2025, Munroe Arts leadership began to introduce this idea to Town leadership, neighbors, and its community. The resulting feedback served to set the stage (as it were) for more formal design renderings as expressed desires were incorporated and concerns were addressed. We are ready to continue the conversation by presenting the revised and refined design at a community meeting with stakeholders to listen and solicit additional feedback including any remaining concerns, and ideas for how the space might operate.
Last summer, our art camp families enjoyed weekly performances in a cozy, yet temporary staging area in the front yard, and the local community came together here for our annual Lemonade Summer Social. With so much enthusiasm for more of these kinds of outdoor community events and an interest in bringing back Munroe Center Stage after the pandemic, we started to consider how to make the front yard more welcoming to all, and at same time, upgrade the space with an improved landscape and full accessibility as well.
Enter our treasured, long-time board member, Bob Adams, to imagine formalizing this space in a more sustainable way. Bob trained with acclaimed architect Frei Otto in 1963 at MIT, and his work influenced this design of a more permanent canopy and a stage that would be fully accessible to all performers and campers.
In the fall of 2025, Munroe Arts leadership began to introduce this idea to Town leadership, neighbors, and its community. The resulting feedback served to set the stage (as it were) for more formal design renderings as expressed desires were incorporated and concerns were addressed. We are ready to continue the conversation by presenting the revised and refined design at a community meeting with stakeholders to listen and solicit additional feedback including any remaining concerns, and ideas for how the space might operate.
The first of these meetings is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 from 1 - 4:30pm. This will be a hybrid format in order to accommodate everyone who wants to be part of this conversation. Anyone interested in attending in-person (to manage room occupancy limits) can register online. The meeting will also be set up as a webinar for online participation as well (this link will be posted in the MCA newsletter out in late March).