Rangeley Friends of the Arts enlisted our help to design the new Learning and Presentation Center for the Arts. In collaboration with site planners at Gates, Leighton and Associates, Knickerbocker Group designed a Performing Arts Center that encompassed the needs of the town and provided a vision for making the dream of an arts center in Rangeley a reality.

Designed to exhibit both the natural beauty of the area, as well as to provide spaces where artwork could be presented, the main gallery space takes advantage of both. With plenty of natural light for the artwork, vertical panes of glass divide delicate artwork panels framed with strong structural members. Views of Saddleback and Rangeley Lake are expressed between works of art, bridging the gap between two very different but notable art forms.

The gallery opens to the main attraction: a 370 seat theater. Stepping inside of the theater itself, one is exposed to high ceilings, wooden beams, and steel elements that introduce a contemporary twist, while still keeping with Rangeley’s traditional architecture. Performances will be in all different media, from large choral groups to small chamber music, to theatrical productions and one-act plays.

The lower level will house a variety of art-inspired spaces: a dance studio, three music rooms, a photography studio and dark room, a pottery studio, a woodshop for set construction and design, and a costume design/storage and green room.

In keeping with RFA’s mission, the new state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center will “increase awareness, knowledge, education, appreciation, and support for the arts by making available varied programs of high artistic quality and by related activities, and to operate exclusively for charitable, literary, or educational purposes.”

Check out their site to learn more about the Rangeley Friends of the Arts and their exciting programs: http://mainearts.net/