SANTA MONICA, CALIF.: The Ruskin Group Theatre’s expanded new hub for arts and culture, the Theatre Arts Center, has opened on Los Angeles’s Westside. The company’s new space, built inside a historic building that was once home to the Museum of Flying and served as an armory during World War II, will host professional live theatre, regular music events, spoken word, acting training, and visual arts. It will also be available for rentals and will offer workshops for actors and writers.

Founded by acting teacher John Ruskin in 2001, the Ruskin Group Theatre has produced such works as the world premiere of Rex Pickett’s Sideways The Play, the West Coast premiere of Todd Kreidler’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge. By 2021, audiences and arts programming had begun to outgrow the original space near Santa Monica Airport, so the company began to renovate a space two doors down. Ruskin, producing artistic director Michael Myers, and the airport’s director, Stellio Makrides, worked together on the renovations. Makrides encouraged the group to enter a public-private partnership with the city of Los Angeles and the theatre.

In the new space, the Kaplan Family Stage will host revivals and new works. The Audre, a more intimate 65-seat venue, will serve as a space for smaller plays and live music. Myers envisions the Audre as a Westside counterpart to iconic venues like Nashville’s Bluebird Café or Hollywood’s Hotel Café, offering a home for singer-songwriters and intimate performances.