About Us

The Beck Center for the Arts is a non-profit, performing arts and arts education organization dedicated to enriching the quality of life for Northeastern Ohioans. We combine professional theatrical productions with comprehensive curriculum-based arts education in Creative Arts Therapies, dance, music, theater, and visual arts, serving over 50,000 annually in Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lake, and Summit Counties.

The Beck Center professional theater productions include a traditional, yet diverse combination of musicals, dramas and comedies on two separate stages, serving an average of 30,000 patrons each year. A 21-year veteran, artistic director Scott Spence has linked some of Cleveland’s top directors with titles you would expect (or not expect) from the Beck Center. Directors include Seth Gordon formerly of the Cleveland Play House, an artist-in-residency with Chicago’s Timothy Mooney, and Baldwin-Wallace Music Theatre Program's artistic director, Victoria Bussert. Some daring, some courageous, yet all the quality and value you have come to expect from the Beck Center for the Arts.

Beck Center staff and faculty believe that quality arts education can be provided to all people regardless of age or ability. Over 200 classes, lessons, and programs are led each week by experienced and trained professionals who encourage each student to stretch to his or her artistic potential. Over 4,500 individuals are served annually through our dance, music, theater and visual arts programs.

The Creative Arts Therapies department assists individuals with a variety of special needs by enhancing their quality of life through the creative arts. 1,500 individuals are served each week in this capacity.

The Outreach Education department provides 4,500 students high quality and participatory arts instruction annually, both inside local schools and on the Beck Center campus with particular attention to the under-served.

Art exhibits at the Beck Center are ongoing with exhibits by local and regional artists along with student and faculty exhibits. In addition, a partnership with the Cleveland Artists’ Foundation provides exhibits of historical and scholarly importance for free to the public.

Our Mission

To educate and entertain through diverse, high-quality performances and arts education programming.

Our Core Values

We believe in…
The importance of the arts to the quality of life
Providing opportunities for all to engage in the arts
Being responsive to the communities we serve
Life long learning
Collaboration
Innovation and creativity
Ethical and fiscal responsibility