Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts center for innovative visual, performing and media arts in downtown Los Angeles, located inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex. Opened in November 2003 as an extension of CalArts in Los Angeles.

Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT)

Address	631 W. 2nd Hope St. Los Angeles, United States
Type	Theatre, gallery, art center
Capacity	270 (est.)
Construction
Opened	2003
Architect	Frank Gehry
Website
www.redcat.org

Programs

• Visual Arts
• Performing Arts
• Film/Video
• Music
• Conversations

Facility

The art center consists of a 3,000-square-foot (280 m²) gallery space with revolving exhibitions, a 200–270-seat flexible black box theater, and a lounge cafe/bar and a bookstore.

History

As the Walt Disney Concert Hall came under construction in 1992, Roy E. Disney, son of Roy O. and Edna Disney, saw an opportunity for the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Santa Clarita to have a presence in downtown Los Angeles. With the approval of The Walt Disney Company's Board of Directors and support from the County of Los Angeles, the project's lead architect, Frank Gehry, whose children also graduated from CalArts, was tasked to design the new venue. Roy Disney and his wife Patty personally matched the Disney Company gift for REDCAT's construction and, to extend the memory of Roy O. Disney who built The Walt Disney Company with Walt and oversaw the construction of CalArts' campus, dedicated the new art center to his parents' name. CalArts President Steven D. Lavine cites the pairing of high caliber renegade experimentation and a social space for artist-community engagement, especially those in London (e.g. The Cottesloe Theatre as part of the Royal National Theatre), as a pointed consideration for the venue design and its conception as an institutional laboratory.[1]

Mark Murphy was recruited as executive director of REDCAT. He observed a dearth of interdisciplinary art spaces in Los Angeles the likes of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Wexner Center for the Arts, and the Walker Art Center, or the Alte Oper in Frankfurt and the Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin.[2] This impetus propelled initiatives for commissioned works, artist residencies, collaborations, and public programs. Since 2020, João Ribas is the Steven D. Lavine Executive Director of REDCAT & Vice President for Cultural Partnerships.[3]

Harvey Lichtenstein, president and executive producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, was brought in as a consultant during the development phases of REDCAT during 1999.^{[citation needed]}

The performances at REDCAT are funded and presented in part by The REDCAT Council.[4] Current council members include: Diane Levine (Chair), Edgar D. Arceneaux, Joseph M. Cohen, Rita Cohen, Neda Disney, Tim Disney, Fariba Ghaffari, Richard J. Grad, R. Stephen Maguire, Antonio Mejias-Rentas, Seth Polen, Kevin Ratner, Abby Sher, Michael Skloff, Alex Westerman, Adele Yellin and Ravi Rajan, (President, CalArts).

References

External links

• The Politics of Culture: The REDCAT Theater
• Mark Murphy & David Sefton: Two LA Impresarios