Gallo Center for the Arts

The Gallo Center for the Arts is downtown Modesto's flagship performing arts venue, a $47 million, light-filled complex that opened in September 2007 after a decades-long push to bring a permanent home for the arts to the Central Valley. The center houses two theaters — the 1,248-seat Mary Stuart Rogers Theater and the 440-seat Foster Family Theater — plus the outdoor Modesto Rotary Music Garden.

It serves as the resident home for six local arts organizations, including the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, Central West Ballet, Opera Modesto, and the Modesto Community Concerts Association, and also hosts touring Broadway productions, comedians, and national recording artists throughout the year.

What distinguishes the Gallo Center is its role as the anchor of Modesto's downtown cultural revival: its opening is widely credited with catalyzing the restaurant and nightlife growth on the surrounding blocks, making the surrounding few square blocks the city's densest concentration of dining and evening entertainment.