THEARC: Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus

About

THEARC provides comprehensive programs and services from eleven partner agencies, all of whom embrace children & adults residing east of the Anacostia River in D.C.

Story

The Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC) is a $27 million, 110,000 square-foot campus located east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC’s Ward 8. THEARC was built and is operated by Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR), a nonprofit 501-c-3 organization.

THEARC brings together an array of comprehensive programs and services from eleven partner agencies:

Building Bridges Across The River (BBAR)
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington FBR Branch
Children's Health Project of DC
Corcoran Gallery of Art: Corcoran ArtReach
Covenant House of Washington
Levine School of Music
LIFT-DC
Parklands Community Center
Trinity Washington University
The Washington Ballet
The Washington Middle School for Girls

In addition to THEARC Theater, a 365-seat community theater that is the only theater of any kind located east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC, THEARC includes a regulation size gym, libraries, computer labs, classrooms, dance, music and visual arts studios, an art gallery, public playgrounds, gardens and other first-rate facilities.

Mission

Building Bridges Across the River is the 501-c-3 nonprofit organization that built and now runs THEARC. The mission of Building Bridges Across the River is to improve the quality of life for children and adults who reside east of the Anacostia River by providing leadership, management and financial oversight of the Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC). Through a collaboration of partner organizations, THEARC provides access to high quality educational, health, cultural, recreation, and social service programs. By providing these programs, BBAR and its partners aim to contribute to the revitalization of the community in southeastern Washington.