The Anderson Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Binghamton University, State University of New York. The facility was designed by the architectural firm of Hutchins, Evans and Lefferts of New York City and opened in 1985.
The complex is designed to meet the needs of every performing group -- soloists, chamber ensembles, symphonies, dance, or large theatrical productions complemented by a full-scale orchestra. The University's Fine Arts complex, which house the Anderson Center for the Arts, provides additional spaces for the academic departments in the form of two studio theaters and the Jean Casadesus Recital Hall used by the Theater and Music Departments, respectively. This combination of small studios and large theaters creates a versatile setting that is both intimate and spectacular, integrating music, dance, drama, and the visual arts, while serving the academic needs of the University as well as the region.
Light from numerous glass panels permeates the foyer where rust and terra cotta colors blend with neutral tones to recapture the warm red of the exterior brick walls. The glass panels form a structure unique to the Anderson Center-a retractable wall at the back of the large Osterhout Concert Theater. To afford a special summer evening experience for hundreds of people, this sliding glass wall opens onto a sloping knoll, a man-made amphitheater extension to the Osterhout Concert Theater, provided with its own sound equipment to enhance open-air listening. When the glass wall is retracted, the interior acoustic wall separating the Osterhout Concert Theater from the lobby area can be moved manually to give the outdoor audience a view of the stage.
The curvilinear structure of the Box Office, elevator, and stairways in the lobby are mirrored throughout the design of the house. Great swirls of suspended acoustical clouds sweep across the ceiling, complemented by the grand curve of continental seating below. With a capacity of 1200 (including space for 24 wheelchair patrons), the Theater presents a sophisticated ambiance. The curved walls in increasingly darker shades of gray draw the eye of the audience to the stage and the vivid terra cotta velour of the act curtain.