Arroyo Repertory Theatre (ART), a community theater organization, and Lumina Academy of Dance, a dance studio in Pasadena, moved to 7330 N. Figueroa St. in Eagle Rock — naming the new multi-use performing art space ART on Fig. ART was previously active for more than 20 years across multiple locations in the LA area, according to Artistic Director Jude Lucas.
Lucas said she was intrigued by the possibilities that an unconventional theater space could provide for ART after an unplanned two-year break.
“We put all our stuff in storage for two years, and I was driving by one day and I saw the for lease sign [at the new location],” Lucas said. “A non-traditional, midcentury modern kind of place. Not quite my idea of a theater place, but who’s to say. Theater exists on street corners, buses; wherever.”
The owner of Lumina Academy of Dance, Arlene Santos said ART and Lumina have partnered up to fund and run their new shared space, which now houses all of ART’s programming and certain classes and events by Lumina.
“We opened this new space together, so it’s kind of a collaborative art space,” Santos said. “We’re sharing the space equally, and the expenses — everything […] I have moved some of my programs from my other dance studio in Pasadena to our new location.”
According to Santos, ART on Fig.’s location, which includes a variety of performance and rehearsal spaces, has created new opportunities for both ART and Lumina to expand their programming.
“I really believe in building community and using the opportunities that you get to build community,” Santos said. “This space is very unique in that we can offer the space to do different types of events and to have different art forms collaborating to do different things.”
Lucas said she hopes to use ART on Fig. as a place where the community can create theater and other artistic works that allow creative expression in new and unique ways while keeping costs low for the audience.
“The goal is to keep it active and vibrant with as many voices, disenfranchised forces, women’s voices, children’s voices, as possible, [and] to introduce new works,” Lucas said. “The more we support writers and actors and people who are developing new works and new voices, I think theater can be vibrant again. And [we want to] keep it affordable, making sure that we’re able to produce in such a way that our ticket prices aren’t onerous.”
Darwin Luján, an actor, writer and organizer at ART, said ART’s most recent productions, the Writer’s showcases, are the original work of writers and actors that attended ART’s workshops.
“The first one that we did was about 14 or 15 months ago, and it consisted of more or less a year’s worth of Writer’s workshop [work],” Luján said. “Within 14 months, we did three showcases with six to eight pieces each, all original work, which is crazy output.”
Luján said ART hosts weekly writer’s workshops on Tuesdays and actor’s workshops on Thursdays, free of cost and judgement. Luján said ART provides an important community for artists and actors in what can be an isolating city.
“LA is one of the most populated cities, and if you aren’t careful, it can be a very lonely city, especially for artists,” Luján said. “It’s important for actors to have a home, and that’s what this place really is, a place where you can come be with a community of actors.”
Lucas said that along with upcoming events at ART such as Theatre Americana’s run of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and Lumina’s regular dance socials, ART is fundraising and applying for grants that will allow them to do educational artistic work.
“Because we were dark for two years, it’s really hard to fundraise. We have a grant to do a piece, free to the people who participate in it [and] it’s called the Eaton Fire Youth Theater Project,” Lucas said. “We’re taking 15 to 20 [third to eighth graders], they write their own play based on their experience with the fire, and it’s tied to students who were impacted by the fire.”
Santos said that she is excited about Lumina and ART’s expansion to Eagle Rock because of their ability to reach a new audience and build a diverse community.
“[Eagle Rock is] just such a central location and such a meeting of different communities and different types of people,” Santos said. “There’s people from all backgrounds, and I think we have a unique opportunity to offer different types of classes and events where we are going to get a lot of different people.”
Contact Sadie Maguire at smaguire@oxy.edu
