Lincoln Center Begins West Side Transformation, Featuring New Baron Theater and SNF Gardens

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The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Gardens, designed by Hood Design Studio and WEISS/MANFREDI, anchor the west campus overhaul.

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Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) held a groundbreaking ceremony as the institution reimagines the west side of its campus, creating new spaces to advance the arts as a force for inspiration and connection for all. Lincoln Center will build a new, 2000-person venue named The Baron Theater, in recognition of donor, The Baron Family Foundation, founded by Judy and Ron Baron. The Theater will be a centerpiece of the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Gardens and the newest performance space at Lincoln Center. The design incorporates input from thousands of community members, part of a robust participatory process.

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The Baron Family Foundation made a transformative $75 million gift that honors the rich artistic traditions of New York City and invests in their future on Lincoln Center's campus. Mr. Baron has hosted his company's Annual Baron Investment Conference at Lincoln Center since 2004. In recognition of this gift, the world-class amphitheater, for approximately 2000 audience members and designed by WEISS/MANFREDI, will be named The Baron Theater. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is a Founding Partner of the overall initiative to redesign Lincoln Center's west face. SNF's catalytic $75 million grant has also supported community engagement initiatives, projects that animated outdoor spaces during the pandemic, free programming throughout Summer for the City , and the ongoing Legacies of San Juan Hill initiative. In recognition of their support, the new performance gardens at Damrosch Park — home to The Baron Theater, as well as gardens, groves, a new water feature, and gathering spaces — will be named the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Gardens.

“The theme of Baron Capital's 33rd annual conference this fall, that will be again held at Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera House, is ‘1982.' That is the year we founded Baron Capital. Baron Capital's mission is to ‘Change Lives' of our clients and employees. It's always been about the impact we have on others' lives, just like The Baron Theater in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Gardens is intended to bring art and beauty to the city we love,” said Ron Baron, Co-Founder and President of the Baron Family Foundation. “We are honored that Lincoln Center and New York City have allowed my family's foundation to make a naming gift to build The Baron Theater. New York City and Lincoln Center, where we have held Baron Capital's annual meeting for 22 years, have changed our lives. Our gift is intended to be a token of our appreciation."

“We are honored and very happy to be able to contribute—as our founder did in the institution's earliest years — to a generational change at Lincoln Center, a new beginning delivering a more engaging, more open, more all-embracing public space,” said Andreas Dracopoulos, Co-President of Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). “We're proud to be a Founding Partner in this very important initiative, and we can't wait to share in the joy and delight New Yorkers and visitors from around the world will take in the reimagined campus."

"The arts shape the character and vitality of cities, and we are committed to contributing to a more expansive and inclusive future for all New Yorkers. The west side of Lincoln Center's campus has, for too long, sent a message of exclusion—but today, we are proud to break ground on a project that will change that. No matter where you enter the campus, you will be greeted with the sense of open welcome and possibility that arts and culture should offer for all. The construction around us today is temporary. The invitation to join us here on this incredible campus is permanent,” said Mariko Silver, President and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

The capital campaign's $335 million goal to support the construction phase of the Initiative has been raised, thanks to the generosity of foundations, private donors, the LCPA Board of Directors, and public support from the State and City of New York. Today, the campaign continues on to support a robust lineup of free performances, including during the Summer for the City festival, for generations to come.

"New Yorkers have rallied around this Initiative with incredible generosity,” said Steven R. Swartz , Chair of the Board of Directors of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “Donors, artists, neighbors, students, staff — truly, New Yorkers from all walks of life — have been moved by the vision of a more welcoming Lincoln Center that offers new spaces for anyone to experience the arts in their daily lives. With this incredible support, we will deliver performance gardens that are spaces of welcome, of calm, and of art for generations to come.”

Earlier this spring, as fencing went up to prep the site for construction, LCPA unveiled The Future We Create, a mural by lead artist Vanesa Álvarez and assistant artist Derval Fairweather. In collaboration with the public art nonprofit ArtBridge, the mural is a cornerstone of the participatory planning process that engaged local residents, NYCHA neighbors, students, and community stakeholders. A series of workshops and conversations led by Álvarez helped shape the themes and imagery reflected in the final design, which depicts historic figures from the neighborhood—including James P. Johnson , Thelonious Monk, Mary White Ovington, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, and others—alongside current residents. The mural is on view along Amsterdam and 62nd Street.

This project is being undertaken in coordination with NYC Parks and NYC Department of Transportation. Damrosch Park is mapped city parkland maintained and operated by LCPA.

Community leaders, artists, donors, leadership from across Lincoln Center, and many more were in attendance for the ceremony.

The ceremony featured performances that celebrated the cultural legacy of the area throughout history, including the artistry that flourished historically in the San Juan Hill neighborhood and that continues to influence artists innovating today. Looking ahead to the future, performances were offered from artists with ties across the Lincoln Center campus.

The program opened with a newly commissioned poem, The Future We Create, by Poet-in-Residence Mahogany L. Browne, co-written with emerging artist and oral historian Oshun Baronville and performed by both artists. The poem shares the same title as the new mural by Vanesa Álvarez and Derval Fairweather that adorns the construction fencing along 62nd and Amsterdam Avenue.

Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and composer Sean Mason played "Thelonious," written by Thelonious Monk, as a tribute to the neighborhood of San Juan Hill, where the great composer lived most of his life and drew inspiration for his musical inventions.

A cast of ten dancers from the School of American Ballet performed an exuberant excerpt from George Balanchine 's Cortège Hongrois, a work he originally created for New York City Ballet in 1973.

New York City Ballet dancers Harrison Coll and Peter Walker performed an excerpt from The Times Are Racing, choreographed by NYCB Resident Choreographer Justin Peck and set to an electronic score by acclaimed composer and electronic artist Dan Deacon.

World-renowned vocalist Catherine Russell joined Sean Mason and brought timeless jazz and rich vocals to close out the program with Manhattan by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart .

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Lincoln-Center-Breaks-Ground-on-West-Side-Transformation-New-Baron-Theater-20260512)._