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Photo by Fred Charles Photography.
The David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center exterior terrace with surrounding solar panels.
David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center
Opened in fall 2022, the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center is a sustainable and inclusive home for the creative process at The Pocantico Center, where artists and the community come together to develop, present, and experience new works of performing, literary, and visual arts. The DR Center includes a gallery, performance space, and flexible artists' studio, housed in John D. Rockefeller’s historic Orangerie.
Upcoming
Public Programs
Since 2012, the Culpeper Summer Performance Series has offered mainstage music, dance, and theater performances at Pocantico. The new arts center will double the annual performance series from four to eight events, offered year-round. The DR Center will also host open rehearsals, forums, lectures, workshops, and other public programs for the community. Tickets must be purchased in advance online. Explore upcoming events »
Exhibitions
The gallery at the DR Center will present rotating exhibitions of visual art drawn from the permanent collection at Pocantico, as well as new commissions, loans, and museum partnerships. The gallery is open to the public several days a week, and all visitors must reserve a free timed-entry ticket prior to visiting. Reserve gallery tickets »
Artist Residencies
Through its Culpeper Arts and Culture program, the RBF has offered performing artist residencies at Pocantico since 2008. The DR Center artists' studio will, for the first time, allow for visual artist residencies. The Pocantico Prize for Visual Artists pairs a $25,000 cash prize with a two-month residency, and an annual community arts residency will allow a local nonprofit organization to use the studio as a satellite location to conduct workshops, exhibitions, performances, and more for up to six months. Meet our current artist-in-residence »
Follow us on Transformation: From Greenhouse to Arts Hub
Rockefeller engaged William Welles Bosworth, the architect of Kykuit and its gardens, to design a winter storage building for his collection of ornamental orange trees in 1908. Bosworth modeled his design after the 17th-century “orangery” at the Palace of Versailles. In the 1930s, Rockefeller donated his orange trees to botanical gardens in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Boston, leaving the building to be used for storage. Upon his passing in 1979, Nelson Rockefeller bequeathed the Orangerie, as well as Kykuit and other properties on the family estate, to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Under an agreement with the Trust, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund operates these properties as The Pocantico Center. The RBF announced plans to transform the Orangerie into the DR Center, a public venue for the arts at Pocantico, in 2019.
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John D. Rockefeller's historic 1908 Orangerie.
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Orangerie interior, circa 1930.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Building exterior 2019, pre-construction.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Building exterior 2019, pre-construction.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Building exterior 2019, pre-construction.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Building exterior 2019, pre-construction.
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Photo by Arnaldo Ugarte.
Building interior 2018, pre-construction.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Building interior 2019, pre-construction.
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Original window detail.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Original window detail.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Original window detail.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Moving the Dubuffet sculpture, stored in the Orangerie since the 1980s, for conservation and outdoor display.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Moving the Dubuffet sculpture, stored in the Orangerie since the 1980s, for conservation and outdoor display.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Moving the Dubuffet sculpture, stored in the Orangerie since the 1980s, for conservation and outdoor display.
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Interior construction, 2020.
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Interior construction, 2020.
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Demolition of the south facade to construct the pavilion, 2021.
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Construction of the pavilion, 2021.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Construction of the pavilion, 2021.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Removal of the interior columns, 2021.
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Photo by F. Charles Photography.
Removal of the interior columns, 2021.
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Removal of the interior columns, 2021.
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Finishing details on the pavilion, 2021.
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Finishing details on the pavilion, 2021.
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Finishing details on the pavilion, 2021.
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Photo by F. Charles Photogaphy.
Renovated skylights, 2021.
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Installing sprung floors in the performance space, 2022.
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A view from the gallery, 2022.
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Photo by Margaret Fox.
The completed entrance to the DR Center.
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Photo by Fred Charles Photography.
The completed south entrance.
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Photo by Margaret Fox.
The completed terrace, set for a reception.
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Photo by Fred Charles Photography.
The completed terrace with pivot doors open, revealing the performance space inside.
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Photo by Aslan Chalom.
The performance space, activated by choreographer Camille Brown.
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Photo by Margaret Fox.
The completed gathering space.
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Photo by Margaret Fox.
The completed gallery, displaying Transparent Sculpture VII (Louise Nevelson, 1967-68), Connections (Annie Albers, 1925-1983), Acrylic No. 1 (Fanny Sanin, 2016) and Salome (Grace Hartigan, 1964).
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Photo by Margaret Fox.
Completed building exterior, 2022.
Sustainability
In accordance with the Fund’s commitment to sustainability, the new arts center is a “net-zero” facility with platinum LEED certification. A nearby solar panel array produces more energy than the building consumes, and a rain garden helps conserve water and reduce runoff pollutants.
Building Credits
ArchitectFXCollaborative Architects, LLP | Construction ManagerYorke Construction Corporation |
Owners RepresentativeEnvoie Projects LLC | Structural EngineerSilman Structural Engineers, DRP |
Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, And Fire/Life Safety EngineerAltieri Sebor Wieber, LLC | Building Enclosure EngineerSimpson Gumpertz & Heger |
Historic Preservation ConsultantLi Saltzman Architects, PC | Landscape ArchitectMathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, PC |
Civil EngineerLangan Engineering | Lighting Design ConsultantFisher Marantz Stone |
Theatre Design ConsultantFisher Dachs Associates | Acoustic and Audio-Visual ConsultantJaffe Holden |
Code ConsultantCode Consultants | Building CommissioningHorizon Engineering Associates, LLP |
Controlled InspectionsAK Engineering | FurnitureMiller Blaker |
Paint Provided Free of Charge byBenjamin Moore and Co. | SecurityNYCON Security Systems, Inc. |
SignageH Plus | Survey and GeotechnicalLangan Engineering |
Telescopic SeatingJezet | Theatrical Lighting4Wall Entertainment, Inc. |
Special ThanksNational Trust for Historic Preservation Greenrock Corporation |