Mesa Arts Center, Mesa (must see)

The Mesa Arts Center is a performing and visual arts complex located in downtown Mesa. At more than 210,000 square feet, the $95 million facility, completed in 2005, is the largest comprehensive arts campus in the state. The Mesa Arts Center encompasses four performance venues, from the intimate 99-seat Farnsworth Studio Theater to the 1,600-seat Ikeda Theater. The center is also home to the Mesa Contemporary Arts, which houses five art galleries with 5,500 square feet of exhibition space. The facility also features 14 unique visual and performing art classroom studios. Multi-use areas throughout the campus provide both indoor and outdoor gathering and presentation spaces.

The architecture of the entire complex is primarily post-modern, with sharp, jagged angles, canted walls, sloping roofs, glass walls, and a reflection of the local vernacular in both colors and materials. The introverted campus is inspired by a geode, and guides pedestrians from the outer concrete walls to a central space of glass, water, and color. The complex was designed by Boora Architects of Portland, Oregon in associations with DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., of Phoenix, Arizona. Martha Schwartz Inc. served as landscape architect for the project.