TPAC Partners With Architecture Team To Design New Performance Center

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Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) has selected a global architecture team for the design of a new performance home. The team will include BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), William Rawn Associates and EOA Architects.

The choice is a significant step toward relocation for the almost 50-year-old performing arts non-profit and follows a recent approval by the Tennessee General Assembly of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s 2023-24 budget proposal. $200 million will support TPAC’s move from the State-owned James K. Polk Cultural Center. The State has determined via a comprehensive asset review that the site—built from an investment in 1974—is suited for better use.

In addition to the $200 million commitment, the 2023-24 budget also intends for TPAC to receive an added $300 million in next year’s budget with a requirement of private philanthropic contributions to support the relocation. This $500 million total investment is based on a study conducted by the State estimating the costs for repair and renovation of the existing facility.

Since presenting its first live performances in September 1980, TPAC has grown into an arts and culture leader attracting visitors from across the state and welcoming approximately 435,000 audience members each year. A new performing arts center will grow audiences by an estimated 33 % and will allow TPAC to increase programming, expand educational and mission-driven activities and drive new visitation to the region while supporting new jobs across industries.

With a new and larger home, TPAC will expand programming for Tennesseans with world-renowned artists and touring Broadway productions, as well as ballet, opera and dramatic theatre performances from its three resident companies—Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Repertory Theatre—while also growing its nationally recognized arts education programs to serve more students and teachers across the state.

“We are deeply grateful to the Governor and General Assembly for granting TPAC the essential financial support to construct a new world-class performing arts center and acknowledging the monumental impact that the arts have on the lives of Tennesseans,” says Jennifer Turner, TPAC President & CEO. “As we take these initial steps toward a cultural vision that represents the future of the performing arts, we are thrilled to work with this incredible team of internationally renowned architects to envision how TPAC will continue to captivate, connect and inspire positive change. I commend the TPAC Board of Directors for their courageous leadership in pursuit of this project.”

Caela Griffin
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