Campus Close-Up: Northwestern’s New Performing and Media Arts Venue Takes Center Stage

The Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for Performing and Media Arts in downtown Chicago positions Northwestern University at the heart of the city’s vibrant theater community.

Dedicated in June 2021, Wirtz Center Chicago is a strategic creative expansion by the School of Communication. Located on the Chicago campus in Abbott Hall along Lake Shore Drive, the 24,000-square-foot facility offers MFA students in acting, stage design, directing, writing for screen and stage, and documentary media, as well as others, a place to learn, work, and dream.

“The MFA actors are thrilled to have a place to call home,” says Stan Brown, the inaugural W. Rockwell Wirtz Professor and director of graduate studies for the MFA in Acting program. “Having spaces that are compatible with their training has helped not only in focusing their work—it has also cultivated joy in doing the work.”

Designed to combine performance and instruction, the state-of-the-art center incorporates multi-use black box spaces (with one equipped for film screenings), a lobby and gallery space, teaching studios, a computer lab, a design studio, a green room, and administrative offices.

“Artists will always need a place to create and practice their art, and the center offers spaces that are compatible with the needs unique to artists,” Professor Brown says. “I’m certain that many celebrated plays, films, television series, and creative partnerships will begin at Wirtz Center Chicago.”

The center serves as a critical bridge between Northwestern and Chicago. There is community interest in using the performance spaces, something Professor Brown says the school hopes to build on by cultivating partnerships with Chicago arts organizations.

“We’re also developing audiences by inviting groups to attend the inaugural events we’re producing,” Professor Brown explains. “The dream is to become a venue known for providing experimental productions that aren’t usually offered in the commercial sector.”

All this is possible thanks to the transformative philanthropy of Chicago Blackhawks Chairman William Rockwell “Rocky” Wirtz ’75, trustee, and his wife, Marilyn Queen Wirtz. In addition to supporting the professorship, they established an endowment that enabled the School of Communication to expand its professional programs to include the new center, named in honor of Rocky’s grandmother, Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz. A 1924 graduate of the University, she advocated for the school throughout her life.

“This is a fitting honor for a woman who lived a life of honor,” Rocky Wirtz said at the center’s dedication. “I know she would be very proud and humbled to have this beautiful theater and program named after her.”

The family’s devotion to her legacy will impact students for years to come. “The incredible generosity of the Wirtz family is an investment in Chicago and what it can contribute to the worldwide landscape of the performing arts,” Professor Brown shares. “Wirtz Center Chicago will become synonymous with leading-edge trends in the performing arts.”