Theater Arts Program

Since its inception, the Guadalupe has been producing plays at the historic Guadalupe Theater. Under the direction of the first Theater Arts Program Director Jorge Piña, the program saw the emergence of local and regional talent that was anxious to share the Chicano experience through staged performances. The Theater Arts Program produces a season of plays each year that investigates the Chicano/Latino experience. Its repertoire consists of commissioned and original works by established and aspiring playwrights.

In 1987, the Theater Arts Program hosted the TENAZ Festival. The festival featured twelve Latino theater companies from throughout the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Peru. Today, the Guadalupe continues to work with international artists who collaborate in the creation and production of new work.

With the inception of the Gateways Creation and Presentation program in 1995, underwritten by the Ford Foundation, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center continued with its effort to provide opportunities for new creative works that reflect life and popular culture along both sides of the border. This program gives U.S. artists the opportunity to partner with artists from Mexico to create new, multi-disciplinary works in the performing arts that take their inspiration from the interplay between contemporary Chicano and Mexican cultures.

The education components of the Theater Arts Program include Grupo Animo, the Guadalupe's resident youth theatre company, Discover Animo, an introduction to acting, and Teatro Comunitario, a family theater series.

Through the Theater Arts Program, the Guadalupe continues to preserve, develop and present the Chicano/Latino experience to the community.