Our Values

WE ARE ALL STRONGER TOGETHER. As the region’s leading performing arts center, we maximize our impact by fostering collaboration with other arts organizations and actively practicing the power of partnership.

THE ARTS ARE FOR EVERYONE. We are dedicated to presenting a broad range of high quality programming that reflects and celebrates the diversity of the human experience. We strive to provide arts access in an environment where all people feel respected and welcome.

EDUCATION IS FUNDAMENTAL TO A THRIVING COMMUNITY.

The arts strengthen educational outcomes and inspire creative, compassionate citizens. We are committed to facilitating and providing dynamic arts education opportunities.

WE ARE STEWARDS OF A CULTURAL TREASURE. We honor our responsibility to the community and to future generations by adhering to the highest standards of integrity and sustainability in the preservation of our historic building and in our business practices.

The Pioneer Center, a Brief History

By Alicia Barber, Reno Historian and Pioneer Center Board Member

The History

The Pioneer Theater-Auditorium, now called the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, opened in January of 1968 and has been an anchor of Northern Nevada’s vibrant artistic and cultural scene ever since.

At the time of its construction in the 1960s, Reno was a rapidly growing city with a thriving tourist trade and flourishing arts scene. The Washoe County Fair and Recreation Board planned the downtown facility to serve as both a performing arts venue and a convention hall, with a large auditorium and a collection of meeting rooms on its lower level.

In 1988, the building was renamed the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts and incorporated as a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. In 2012, Washoe County deeded the land, and the RenoSparks Convention and Visitors Authority (the successor to the Fair and Recreation Board) deeded the building to the nonprofit Pioneer Center, which remains its sole owner.