Woodruff Arts Center Unveils Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and PNC PlaySpace

The Woodruff Arts Center—home to the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and High Museum of Art—celebrated a transformative milestone: the grand opening of the all-new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and PNC PlaySpace, made possible through a successful $67 million capital campaign and years of visionary planning.

These dynamic new spaces mark a powerful investment in Atlanta’s children and families, offering year-round, thoughtfully curated performances from the Alliance Theatre and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Designed from the ground up with young audiences in mind, the venues elevate accessibility, imagination, and inclusion.

The Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families includes flexible, retractable seating to allow the venue to seamlessly transform from artistic productions to galas, community gatherings, corporate events, and more. The Bernie & Billi Marcus Sensory Room encircles the upper level, providing a welcoming environment for patrons with neurodivergences.

A multi-year research study led by the Woodruff Arts Center and the University of Arkansas shows that early engagement in the arts dramatically improves educational outcomes: Children immersed in the arts are twice as likely to graduate college, four times as likely to participate in math and science fairs, three times as likely to earn attendance awards, and four times as likely to achieve academic recognition. They also report feeling more connected to school and more optimistic about their futures. The Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families is poised to deliver those opportunities at scale. In its first 18 months, it will host 386 additional performances and welcome 88,000 in-person attendees, with hundreds of thousands more engaging through streaming.

“We are delighted to celebrate the opening of the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and the meaningful opportunities it will create for Atlanta’s young people and families,” said Olga Goizueta Rawls, Chairman and CEO at The Goizueta Foundation. “The Woodruff Arts Center held special significance for my father, Roberto C. Goizueta, not only for its artistic excellence, but also for his deep respect and admiration for Robert W. Woodruff, who mentored him during his time at The Coca-Cola Company. It is a true honor for our family to continue this legacy of support and to help shape the inspiring future of the Woodruff Arts Center.”

The Alliance Theatre will launch a vibrant slate of productions in The Underground Rep:

Alliance Theatre programming on the Goizueta Stage will be supported by the Imagine Endowment, ensuring accessible ticket pricing, expanded school field trip resources across Georgia, and high-quality streaming productions for classrooms worldwide. For tickets to The Underground Rep, visit alliancetheatre.org/family-programming/underground-rep.

“We’re humbled at the immense possibility this new space promises,” said Alliance Theatre’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses. “The architecture makes visible the depth of our commitment to engaging young people in the arts. With the opening of the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and the PNC PlaySpace, the dream of making access to theater a birthright for our community is fast becoming a reality. This is not simply a transformation of the Woodruff Arts Center, but an attempt to transform what it means to grow up in Atlanta.”

To inaugurate its new home on the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will introduce multiple family-friendly productions as part of its Music for the Very Young Concert Series. Each 45-minute performance blends symphonic music with professional actors, inviting children to interact, imagine, and participate.

The series launches with Carnival of the Animals featuring eight performances through Feb. 1 Inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns’ playful suite, the production brings a jubilant parade of lions, swans, kangaroos, and other creatures to life through music and storytelling. This spring, the adventure continues with The Tin Man’s Oz (April 11 through April 19, 2026), a new adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s classic, following the Tin Man’s journey to the Emerald City through immersive musical narration.

Before every show, families can enjoy hands-on activities including face painting, arts and crafts, a photo booth, and an instrument exploration station where children can try out real musical instruments. For Music for the Very Young tickets, visit aso.org/concerts-tickets.

“We are thrilled and grateful to have this custom-built space for young people and their families to call their own at the Arts Center,” said Jennifer Barlament, Executive Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. “Now that it has come to life in such a wonderful way, we can’t wait to fill the room with the sound of music and the voices of children expressing joy and amazement. Igniting young minds with the power of music has been central to the ASO’s mission since its founding, and the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families will allow us to significantly multiply our education programming and the number of young people we serve.”

Open six days a week at no cost to families, PNC PlaySpace is an imaginative play-based environment designed for children from birth to five and their caregivers, thanks to generous support from PNC Bank. The space is made possible through the PNC Foundation, in alignment with PNC’s signature philanthropic initiative, PNC Grow Up Great®, a $500 million, bilingual initiative created to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and in life, with particular emphasis on underserved communities. The Woodruff Arts Center has collaborated with PNC Grow Up Great since 2014, positively impacting thousands of children in the Atlanta metro area.

PNC PlaySpace will host immersive exhibitions, transporting families to vibrant worlds of wonder through storytelling, light, sound, and tactile experiences. The inaugural exhibition, created in partnership with DashStudio, is Bossa Nova Baby—a sensory journey through the Brazilian rainforest. This vibrant space encourages connection, joy, and wonder for families and their youngest explorers. As families engage in the multi-sensory installation, they’ll encounter a series of dynamic programs for early learners, including Babies: Off-Book!, Baby Rave ATL, the Lullaby Project, Story Yoga, Meet the Musician, and more. In its first 18 months, PNC PlaySpace is expected to welcome 60,000 young visitors.

“We are excited to continue our longstanding relationship with the Woodruff Arts Center and to play a part in expanding opportunities for our youngest students to learn and grow in new, inspiring ways,” said Samantha Jones, PNC regional president for Georgia. “This project reflects our continued commitment to early childhood education and establishing strong community relationships. Our collaboration allows us to create a space where Atlanta’s children can build confidence, curiosity, a passion for the arts, and a lifelong love of learning.”

Additionally, through a major partnership with Cox Campus, the Alliance Theatre Arts Integration on Cox Campus program will provide free access to the Alliance Theatre’s acclaimed Theatre for Youth and Families productions. This partnership leverages Cox Campus, an innovative adult learning platform, to introduce and train teachers in arts-integrated strategies and elevate student voice in response to the artistic material. Advanced streaming technology will allow students everywhere to experience the arts regardless of geography. The program is launching with a filmed production of Doctor De Soto by Idris Goodwin, directed by Mark Valdez, and based on the book by William Steig.

The development of these world-class facilities was led by Yellow Bird Project Management, in collaboration with The Projects Group, designed by Perkins&Will, in collaboration with MOSA Architects, and supported by theatrical design consultancy Charcoalblue. Perkins&Will is an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm that was founded on the belief that design has the power to transform lives. The firm is committed to creating a better, beautiful, more equitable world through Living Design, an approach that integrates environmental, social, and design considerations and through CoCreate, a program of partnerships with industry minority-owned businesses. Sound engineering is provided by Meyer Sound, the global leader and innovator in self-powered loudspeaker systems, active acoustics, spatial sound mixing, and sound system design and prediction tools.