• Topia Arts Center
  • Sound and Movement Choir Workshop at St John the Divine
  • Mission
  • Founders and Staff
  • Board Members
  • Historic Theater
  • Our Story
• Green Commitment
  • Performing Arts Center
  • Green Commitment
• Contact

Topia Arts Center is a new “green” artist led performing arts and educational center in development in Adams presenting quality music, dance, theater, circus arts, film and visual art exhibits as well as educational and community programs.  It is also committed to serving the local community as a Shared Use Downtown Space.  More than just a historical site and raw theater space, Topia, which means landscapesin Greek, hopes to provide fertile ground for convergent creative paths and act as an economic stimulus for a charming New England town poised for renaissance. In October, 2004 Nana Simopoulos and Caryn Heilman, two performing artists from New York City founded the non-profit (501(c)(3) Topia Art Center, Inc. with the vision of building on the already tangible energy of this historic cultural site. They were drawn by the opportunity to make a difference in the town by offering their own art as well as the art of their international community of talented friends.  They began making a name for Topia Arts Center around the Berkshires and beyond as a place to find quality arts and education that is committed to environmental responsibility and has a local and global reach.    The Community Development Department of the Town of Adams plans to steward the renovation of the theater building.    Meanwhile Topia Arts Center with the help of the community, both local and global, has cleaned up the raw theater space, added electricity and exit signs, rebuilt and extended the existing vaudeville stage and added almost 200 seats.  Topia Arts Center has presented more than five years of artistic events and continues to offer ongoing community classes, workshops and after-school cooperative programming in its raw space in the summer and year round in its creative online virtual space at the Nonprofit Commons Island of Second Life, and well as at Topia Inn and in partnership with select global presenters.   Topia Arts Center plans to continue to offer programming in the raw theater space throughout the phases of redevelopment of the theater.

Robert Long of Theater Consultants Collaborative has created a design concept for the theater which would make a multipurpose flexible space. With the help of a grant from the Berkshire Taconic Comunity Foundation and Massachusetts Cultural Council, Topia Arts Center completed an independent marketing study and business plan performed by theater management specialists Duncan Webb and Associates.  Dana Bixby, Architects is a LEED certified architect creating state of the art green architectural schematic and construction drawings.