Today, the Woodruff Arts Center kicked off its $67 million capital campaign Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff with a groundbreaking ceremony for two additional spaces: the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and PNC PlaySpace.
Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff will bring new life to campus, expand access to proven educational programming, and secure the Woodruff Arts Center’s place as Atlanta’s center for the arts. Housed in the reimagined Rich Theatre, the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families will be a transformative space for Atlanta’s youngest patrons, featuring thoughtfully curated programming by the Alliance Theatre and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
“We are thrilled to support the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and continue the deep relationship that my father, Roberto C. Goizueta, had with the Woodruff Arts Center during his lifetime,” said Olga Goizueta Rawls, Chairman and CEO at The Goizueta Foundation. “The Woodruff Arts Center has a long history of excellent programming for children and families and the Stage will only enhance this programming for all children in the future.”
Open six days a week, the PNC PlaySpace will be an experiential learning center where children can enjoy free play, interactive performances, and the chance to create, move, and make believe—all at no cost to families. Funding for the PNC PlaySpace is made possible through the PNC Foundation, in alignment with PNC’s signature philanthropic initiative, PNC Grow Up Great®, an early childhood education initiative now in its 20th year. The Woodruff Arts Center has collaborated with PNC Grow Up Great for 10 years, positively impacting thousands of children in the Atlanta metro area during that time.
“For more than a decade, PNC has worked to improve the quality of life in metro Atlanta through investments in high quality early education and the arts,” said Eddie Meyers, PNC Regional President for Georgia. “Our continued support of the Woodruff Arts Center demonstrates a long-term commitment to promoting a strong, vibrant arts community and a lifelong love of learning in Atlanta’s children.”
In addition to the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and PNC PlaySpace, capital renovations include the creation of a dynamic, outdoor community green space, lighting enhancements, clear signage, and infrastructure upgrades. Construction begins in mid-August, with the spaces set to open January 2026.
“We’re so grateful to our donors who are making this work possible,” said Hala Moddelmog, President and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center. “Because of their generosity, we’re able to foster a more inclusive and accessible community space that invites patrons from all walks of life to spend more time with us and experience the arts in new and personal ways.”
Concurrent to Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff, the Alliance Theatre has launched the Imagine Campaign, establishing a $10 million endowment fund exclusively dedicated to sustaining theatrical programming and removing access barriers such as ticket and transportation costs for young audiences of all backgrounds in the new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families.
“The Goizueta Stage and PNC PlaySpace will make it plain that youth and families are not just welcomed at the Woodruff Arts Center, but that the entire front of the building was designed specifically with them in mind,” said Christopher Moses, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director at the Alliance Theatre. “Because of these dedicated youth and family spaces, families and educators will be able to consistently rely on us as a resource for life-changing artistic experiences. We will no longer need to ask the busiest people in our community (parents of young children and educators) to rearrange their schedules to conform to our production calendars; we will instead make these experiences easily accessible to all of Atlanta.”
“It is exciting to imagine people from all over Georgia coming here to hear and make music in this flexible, intimate, and state-of-the-art space,” said Jennifer Barlament, Executive Director at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. “This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to serve more people in new and creative ways.”
“Curating a creative environment accessible to everyone from the moment they arrive on our campus is important to us, and these vital improvements will make each visitor’s experience that much better,” said Rand Suffolk, director of the High. “Not only do these updates signal an investment in world-class art and architecture, but they’ll also help preserve the largest item in our collection: the museum itself.”
To learn more or be a part of Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff, visit woodruffcenter.org/capital-campaign. To access the complete Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff press kit, click here.