Segerstrom Center to Open $1 Million Arts Studio in Santa Ana

The Segerstrom Center for the Arts, based in Costa Mesa, California, is building a brand-new studio in nearby Santa Ana. The new space will cost about $1 million and is expected to open in January. It will be home to two special performing arts schools that serve children and young adults, including some students with disabilities. The goal is to give those students more room, better equipment, and easier access than they have at the current location.

The new building is about 13,000 square feet — roughly the size of two basketball courts put side by side. Workers are about halfway done building it out, and local reporters were recently invited to tour the space while wearing hard hats. The Segerstrom Center has signed a five-year lease on the building, meaning it plans to use the space for at least five years. Studio spaces inside will be about twice as large as the ones students use now on the main campus.

Two schools will move into the new building. The first is Studio D: Arts School for All Abilities, which teaches art, music, dance, and theater to students with a wide range of disabilities. Right now, Studio D has 471 students enrolled. The second school is the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School, a well-known ballet program that recently became the Segerstrom Center's official resident company through the year 2030. That school currently has 223 students.

The new facility will have five dance studios built just for the ballet school. It will also have two large, flexible rooms set aside for Studio D, where students can take part in many different kinds of art. The floors will be made from special materials, including vinyl performance surfaces and engineered hardwood from a company called Harlequin Floors. The walls will use something called Sound Stop technology, which keeps sound from traveling between rooms so classes don't disturb each other.

Casey Reitz, the president and CEO of the Segerstrom Center, says the new space is a big deal for students, families, and the wider community. He has talked about how programs like Studio D change lives — giving students with disabilities new friends, new skills, and more confidence. 'I used to have no friends; now I have confidence. I never sang a song before; now I'm dancing,' Reitz said, sharing what students have told him. He also pointed out that even people who just come to watch shows are moved by what they see.

Even though the classes will move to the new Santa Ana building, both schools will still be a big part of the Segerstrom Center. Students will continue to perform and hold events on the main campus. Reitz says donors — people who give money to support the center — have been very excited about the new space. Some donors who had family members in the programs have even given extra money to help make it happen. Many families are thrilled because the new building will be much easier to reach, especially for students who use wheelchairs or have trouble getting around.