Enriching Lives and Strengthening Communities Through Art

Wayne Center for the Arts is the area’s oldest and most comprehensive visual and performing arts organization. For more than 40 years the center has made art and art education available to the citizens of Wayne County.

Since its beginning in 1973 on the campus of The College of Wooster, Wayne Center for the Arts has been offering culturally stimulating arts experiences to the residents of Wayne County. Founded as the Wooster Arts Center in the basement of the college art museum, the organization was one of the first community arts centers housed on a college campus.

In 1983, the Rubbermaid Foundation purchased the abandoned Walnut Street School which was built in 1902 and located at 237 South Walnut Street, Wooster, Ohio. The Foundation renovated the building and provided the arts center with a new home. In November 1984, the doors of the new location were opened to the public. At that time the center also changed its name to Wayne Center for the Arts in order to better reflect the constituent area served.

The Rubbermaid Foundation donated the Walnut Street building to Wayne Center for the Arts in June of 1999, assuring the community that the cultural arts center would continue to thrive in the downtown Wooster area. Since that time, the organization has continued to grow and evolve offering numerous activities throughout the year including classes, special events, performances and exhibits.

Mission

Enriching lives and strengthening communities through art.

Values & Guiding Principles

Wayne Center for the Arts strives to be Relevant, Accessible and Affordable to all residents of Wayne County while providing services and programs that are of the highest Quality.

Core Values:

• Provide professional, courteous, helpful service in an inspiring environment that reflects a high standard of quality
• Ensure accessibility to programming that is creative and innovative at its core for all Wayne County residents
• Strive to meet community needs and continually assess relevance of program offerings
• Maintain a flexible and open approach to partnerships, space and audience

Philosophy

Wayne Center for the Arts promotes artistic creativity, education and presentation for a collaborative, inclusive and vibrant cultural community. We strive to inspire people to be creative and outside the line of the standard in order to foster open-mindedness, inclusion and new ways of looking at situations.