The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts (formerly Arsenal Center for the Arts) is a nonprofit

multidisciplinary arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...

venue on the Charles River in Watertown, Massachusetts, United States. The 30,000 square foot center, located in an historic 1894 manufacturing shop of the U.S. Army's Watertown Arsenal, houses a 339-seat main stage theater, a 100-seat

black box theater A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...

, exhibition galleries, art classrooms, and rehearsal studios. Mosesian Arts is located six miles from downtown Boston, borders

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and the Charles, and is accessible from surrounding suburbs and MetroWest. Programming includes professional theater and musical performances, comedy, gallery exhibitions, literary and art discussions, and performing and visual arts classes and workshops for all ages. Watertown Children’s Theatre, Mosesian Arts’ performing arts education program, provides classes and performances for youth and families. The venue also hosts other performing arts companies from throughout the Greater Boston region.

History

Plans for an art center in Watertown had begun as early as the 1970s, but insufficient funds were raised and the project was shelved. The arts center in its current form is the culmination of years of

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

efforts which began in 1998 with the formation of Watertown Arts on the Charles, or WATCH. In 1999, a market feasibility study commissioned by WATCH concluded that Watertown would be an ideal location for a multipurpose art center to service Watertown and the surrounding area.Cole, Caroline Louise. "Watertown Arts Facility Gets Support", Boston Globe, September 19, 1999. The site ultimately chosen for construction of the facility was building 321 of the former Army Materials Technology Laboratory in Watertown, a

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

site. O'Neill properties, who bought the Watertown Arsenal property from the town for $24 million in 1998, pledged of space as well as $1 million towards construction costs. Initially, the group estimated total construction costs to be in the range of $2.5 million to $4 million, however the final cost for the project ended up being in the area of $7.5 million. The funds for the center were raised primarily through community donations including $1 million from the town and a $1 million donation from local entrepreneur Charles Mosesian, for whom the center's main theater is named. After years of fundraising and construction, the center finally opened in the summer of 2005. In 2013, the Arts Center and longtime performing partner Watertown Children’s Theatre merged the two organizations. In 2016, Arsenal Center for the Arts was renamed The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts, in recognition of continued support from the Mosesian Family Foundation. The current Executive Director, Darren Farrington, joined the organization in August 2020. In 2021, a major renovation of the entrance, lobby, and other public and administrative areas was completed with architects and designers at

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. In addition to increasing useable space and improving public health and accessibility, the new lobby connects a modern vision with the building’s military history. Gunmetal finishes, reclaimed wood, and industrial ceilings and floors acknowledge the manufacturing past, and a contemporary and minimalist design places focus on the art on gallery walls.

Gallery

File:Mosesian exterior.jpg, Mosesian Center for the Arts File:Mosesian Arts lobby 2.jpg, Mosesian Arts lobby File:Mosesian Arts gallery.jpg, Mosesian Arts gallery File:The Charles Mosesian Theater.jpg, The Charles Mosesian Theater File:Mosesian Arts information desk.jpg, Mosesian Arts information desk File:Mosesian Arts MBar.jpg, Mosesian Arts MBar

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosesian Center for the Arts Art in Massachusetts Arts centers in Massachusetts Performing arts centers in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Watertown, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Middlesex County, Massachusetts 2005 establishments in Massachusetts