“There is no better indicator of the spiritual health of our city, its neighborhoods, and the larger region than the state of the arts. The arts deepen our understanding of the human spirit, extend our capacity to comprehend the lives of others, allow us to imagine a more just and humane world.”

- Jonathan Fanton President, MacArthur Foundation

What is the Center for Arts & Ideas?

The San Mateo County Cultural Plan of 2002 identified the number one need as cultural facilities: spaces for exhibition, auditions, rehearsals and performances. Similarly, the Foster City Chamber of Commerce has identified arts offerings as its primary need. The Center for Arts and Ideas will be a performing arts venue and a community gathering space in the heart of San Mateo County that will directly address that need.

Our Purpose

Arts and ideas transform individuals and communities because of their power to enlighten, educate and entertain. As a community gathering place, we will present cultural, artistic, theatrical, and intellectual offerings to strengthen and explore the shared human experience through cross-cultural understanding.

Our Shared Values

Welcoming Everyone with Joy
The Center for Arts and Ideas is open to all, committed to inclusiveness, representing the diversity of the communities we serve. We have a deep respect for the community in which we navigate and challenge our audiences and participants to think and explore.

Artistic Integrity
The Center for Arts and Ideas provides audiences and artists the freedom to explore. We deliver performances and programs that promote creativity, honest artistic expression, and excellent production values.

Community Focus
We provide a safe gathering place and supportive environment for both artists and audiences. The Center for Arts and Ideas is an inviting, comfortable, safe, and warm place.

Life-Long Learning & Education
The Center for Arts and Ideas provides meaningful, life-long learning experiences for both children and adults. We are dedicated to active teaching and learning, through all stages of life.

Making the World a Better Place
We actively seek to better ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world.

Our Goal

Complete the construction of a Cultural Arts Center and initiate a successful artistic, intellectual, cultural, and theatrical program such that, together, the Campus, and other collaborative partners create a leading civic, cultural centerpiece for the Peninsula.

Our Vision

The Center for Arts and Ideas for Arts & Ideas will be a catalyst for communal transformation, a change agent for the communities, as well as the artistic and cultural organizations, of San Mateo County.

Because of the PJCC's consistent delivery of outstanding community programs; and artistic, intellectual, and cultural offerings, The Center for Arts and Ideas will become the most sought after collaborative partner for arts organizations around the Bay. Other cultural and arts organizations, ranging from the Mexican Heritage Theater to the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, will find in the Cultural Arts Center a warm venue for their own presentations. At The Center for Arts and Ideas, the power of collaboration and partnership will be leveraged for the benefit of the entire Peninsula. Furthermore, The Center for Arts and Ideas’ location will create a cultural center of gravity for the community of Foster City, as patrons and participants stream to the new downtown.

As a gathering place, a welcoming artistic space, a venue for your next celebration, a site for your next corporate meeting, a safe place of exploration, and a beautiful home-away-from-home, The Center for Arts and Ideas will be second to none. With multiple venues, including a dedicated theater and a flexible performance, banquet, or lecture space, The Center for Arts and Ideas will become a beacon for the most innovative artists and the greatest minds in the Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

The PJCC will become the “place to be” for individuals and families, for arts-goers and dance enthusiasts, for aspiring actors, and for budding musicians. On the Peninsula, there will be no better purveyor of unique Jewish and multicultural offerings. If you’re looking for a klezmer concert, a top-notch community theater production, an Indian dance performance, a youth theater conservatory, or a scholarly discussion of U.S. immigration policy, The Center for Arts and Ideas will fit the bill. With both emerging and established artists and thinkers, or “the latest and the greatest,” The Center for Arts and Ideas will become a truly great presenter of artistic, cultural, and intellectual offerings.

Really, why leave San Mateo County? You will soon have a vibrant home for the arts right here in Foster City.

For more information on this exciting new project contact Larry Schlenoff, Campus CEO at 650.312.8016.