With the mission of making performing and visual arts available and accessible to everyone, Chandler Center for the Arts has become a welcoming vibrant community space with the purpose of elevating our diverse community and creating enriching experiences.

A prime economic driver for the city, Chandler Center for the Arts is collaboratively shared by three distinct entities every day of the year – City of Chandler, Chandler Unified School District and Chandler Cultural Foundation.

Dedicated to expanding access, it is a place for everyone in our community – friends and family, students and educators, residents, businesses and visitors – to connect to their cultural identity, to others and to themselves.

Enriching Experiences

Chandler Center for the Arts and Vision Gallery provide engaging entertainment, expression and education through its programs. Whether it is a performance, artist exhibition, student field trip or free concert, it is our hope to inspire, brighten and move every person with whom we connect.

161 – Youth Arts Council Graduates (teens, aged 13-17)

189 – Visual Artists Featured

873 – Exhibits, Performances and Events

4,345 – Performing Artists Engaged

Take a Deeper Look:

Artist Residency with Michael Mwenso

Economic Driver

When someone thinks about the arts they may only think of the mental, emotional and social benefits of attending a performance or participating in an arts class. While the qualitative benefits contribute to an outstanding quality of life for residents and have measurable impact on students and their success, there are also quantitative benefits to arts and culture organizations being present in the community.

The arts is an industry that hires people permanently and temporarily, contracts with local businesses, and spends money on products and services. Performances at Chandler Center for the Arts bring people to Downtown Chandler from all over the Valley and state. These patrons spend money on dinner, drinks and other retail while they are here. They may also be staying at local hotels to make it a full weekend getaway.

Arts and culture organizations make a community attractive to businesses looking at our city. Educated, high paid employees value quality of life for themselves and their families. The arts is attractive to young professionals because they want to live and play in the city where they work. A city with thriving arts organizations is an indicator for many businesses that there is a thriving flourishing community.

65 – Full & Part-Time Employees

290 – Local Businesses that Directly Transact with the CCA

$31.47 – Spent per person, per event (beyond cost of admission)

$8.8 million – economic impact

Take a Deeper Look:

Voices of Chandler Live: The Arts and Economic Vitality

Expanding Access

At the CCA’s core is accessibility for everyone, no matter who they are. Working with Vet Tix, Chandler Center for the Arts offers free tickets to veterans and active military at performances throughout the season. The CCA partners with Act One’s Art Pass to distribute free tickets to performances at other community hubs, like libraries. The CCA also collaborates with other organizations to get free tickets to families in need.

Through Theatre Kids field trips, teachers and homeschool families are given the opportunity for a low-cost arts experience for their students, costing only $3 per ticket. And, for students at Title I schools the costs for students is waived completely.

There are also free Vision Kids arts classes, free in-person and virtual concerts, artist talks and arts activities, like chalk murals and print making.

“Pure joy, excitement and wonder! Our kids had never seen anything like Black Violin before, and they were completely immersed in the performance. Several of our students were so moved by the performance that they were brought to tears.” – Chandler Unified School District Teacher

1,575 - Free Tickets Through Arts Pass

2,360 – Veterans and Actives Military Service Members

5,400 – School Children at Connecting Kids Programs

Take a Deeper Look:

Connecting Kids youth programs

Elevating Community

The CCA is proud to be a trusted and welcoming space for our community to gather and connect. Families and friends come together to make memories, share stories and have an experience they will talk about for years to come. On the weekends, people may be here in the lobby preparing to sing along to their favorite artist or sitting nervously in a seat because their daughter is taking the stage for her recital. During the week, the CCA is providing a place for Chandler Unified School to hold events and meetings, from a principals meeting to incoming freshman orientation to auditions for Chandler High School choir.  

We have become a place where communities hold some of their most important and treasured events. The lobby and main stage hosts ornately decorated displays for arangetram ceremonies, debut performances of classical Indian dance students and a rite of passage after years of training. Miss Indian Arizona Scholarship Program participants take the main stage to represent their tribe and families in the hopes of receiving a scholarship to support their education and to serve as an ambassador for all Arizona Tribes and a role model to young people. The CCA is also home to more than two decades of the Mariachi and Folklorico Festival and community Juneteenth celebrations. Our space has been honored by Chinese New Year celebrations, memorials for cherished residents, stories from Holocaust survivors and members of the Southwest Buffalo Soldiers Association.

“For over 25 years, the South Asian community has made Chandler Center for the Arts its home, a warm welcoming place of celebration for our events.” – Asha Gopal, Arathi School of Dance

158 – Active Volunteers from the Community

10,270 – Volunteer Hours

76,604 – Arts Attendees

210,615 – Total Served

Take a Deeper Look:

Watch Ballet Folklorico Quetzalli-AZ present dances from across Mexico in this CCA Anywhere performance that originally streamed on June 12, 2021.