Lincoln Center To Launch Huge Outdoor Performing Arts Space

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Art lovers across New York City and on the Upper West Side can rejoice as Lincoln Center recently announced plans to create a giant outdoor performing arts center that will feature 10 performance and rehearsal spaces.

The beacon of art between 62nd and 65th Street on the Upper West Side is calling the initiative "Restart Stages," which will kick off on World Health Day, April 7, with a special performance for health care workers.

The outdoor performing arts center is getting designed with expert advice from medical and public health professionals with the goal of creating a "safe, welcoming, accessible, and dynamic environment for arts and community organizations across New York City."

"Restart Stages" is being developed as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's New York Arts Revival plan.

"The cultural community has an urgent role to play in the revitalization of New York, to showcase that our city is not just back economically, but spiritually and socially," said Henry Timms, President and CEO of Lincoln Center, in a news release. "Which is why we knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that as the city reopened it was our absolute obligation and privilege to be first in line to support our constituents, New Yorkers, and the cultural community."

Here are some of the venues that the outdoor arts center will include:

• A cabaret-style stage on Hearst Plaza.
• Dedicated family and kids' areas with arts activities for young people.
• Venues for rehearsals, opening up the artistic process to visitors.
• Space for public school graduations, recognizing the extraordinary achievements of students under difficult circumstances.
• An outdoor reading room, created in partnership with the New York Public Library.

The spaces will also be created in partnership with the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, Harlem Week and the Harlem Arts Alliance, the Korean Cultural Center of New York, and Weeksville Heritage Center.

You can find out more about "Restart Stages" here.