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The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center Opens on Dec. 17th


The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center officially opens to the public on December 17th. The new space, open every day and located on Broadway between 62nd and 63rd streets, is a vibrant, new public visitors space and ticketing facility that is home to an array of programs, services, and amenities designed to welcome, inform, and entertain the thousands of people who visit Lincoln Center and its surrounding community every day.
 
Formerly known as the Harmony Atrium when the space originally opened in 1979, it was one of approximately 503 Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) in New York City created under a longstanding program that offers zoning concessions to office and residential developers in return for accessible public spaces.  Newly reinvigorated, this public space for the arts offers services including:

• A community gathering place to linger in and enjoy
• Free weekly performances
• Chef Tom Colicchio’s ’wichcraft café
• The starting point for guided tours of the Lincoln Center campus
• A staffed Information Desk
• Restrooms
• Free Wi-Fi access

 
For the first time in Lincoln Center’s 50-year history, day-of discount tickets to available performances across the campus will be sold in the Atrium starting on January 7th.  To kick off the discount ticket sales, Lincoln Center will offer “$20 Tickets for 20 Days” -- all tickets at the day-of discount ticket box office will be sold for the promotional price of $20, inclusive, through January 26th. Tickets will go on sale at 12 noon every day and will be sold, two per person, on a first-come, first-served basis. The Box Office is closed on Monday, so those tickets will be sold on Sunday.**
 
“$20 for 20 Days” is made possible by a generous gift from David M. Rubenstein.
 
The David Rubenstein Atrium will be open 7 days a week, 365 days per year, from 8am-10pm Mondays through Fridays, and from 9am-10pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Discount tickets will be sold Tuesdays through Sundays, with discount tickets for Monday performances sold on Sundays. Every Thursday, Target Free Thursdays presents free-to-the-public performances in the Atrium at 8:30 pm.
 
The Tod Williams Billie Tsien design reflects a respect for materials used throughout Lincoln Center and it achieves an open, accessible, and inviting environment that is an essential goal of the redevelopment of the 16-acre campus. The Atrium has applied to be the first LEED certified, “green” building at Lincoln Center.
 
The facility is named in honor of the philanthropist, financier and Vice Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in recognition of his $10 million gift to the Bravo Campaign for redevelopment.
 
“We are so delighted that Lincoln Center, the City of New York, the Harmony Condominium Corporation, the ’wichcraft company and many others have been able to come together to create a spectacular arts-focused visitor space in New York City,” says Reynold Levy, President of Lincoln Center. “The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center is designed to become a gathering and mingling space for our neighbors and visitors from across the city and around the world. While the space itself will be completed over the coming months, we wanted to make its many services available to the public in time for the holiday season.”  
 
Discount and Full-Price Tickets Details
Among the David Rubenstein Atrium’s varied programs and services is a one-stop box office location for available, same-day discount performance tickets to Lincoln Center events. Daily offerings from across the campus, including performances presented by Lincoln Center and its resident organizations, will be discounted from 25 percent to 50 percent off regular prices. The Rubenstein Atrium also offers help and guidance to patrons who want to purchase full-price tickets for future performances.
 
A Visitor and Tourist Destination
The Rubenstein Atrium will also be the new departure point for Lincoln Center campus tours. Tour options will include foreign language tours in Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Japanese (for groups, by reservation only); specialty outings for art and architecture fans (also for groups, by reservation); special Jazz at Lincoln Center tours; and ’wichcraft package tours combining the tour experience with a light snack from ’wichcraft.  Daily walk-up tours for the public will be offered between 10:30am and 4:30pm (exact times are on the Atrium website.) Prices for Lincoln Center tours range from $8 to $20, depending on packages and student and senior discounts.  For more information on tours call 212-875-5350, or email tour_desk@lincolncenter.org.
 
Target Free Thursdays Performance Information
The Rubenstein Atrium hosts Target Free Thursdays -- free performances in a variety of disciplines curated by Lincoln Center staff and presented every Thursday at 8:30pm. Performances will be drawn from Lincoln Center’s resident organizations -- including The Chamber Music Society, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, New York Philharmonic, and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts -- as well as community arts organizations and events.  On December 17th the performance is Stephanie Winters and Dina Richardson performing lyrical ballads that transcend classical, folk and gospel music. On Christmas Eve, December 24th, “Swing Through the Holidays Part 1” will be the Ted Rosenthal Trio performing a variety of jazz and holiday favorites. “Swing Through the Holidays Part 2” on New Year’s Eve, December 31, will be the Champian Fulton Quartet performing swing jazz.
                                  
Signature Architectural Elements and Space Details
Award-winning architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien have transformed an underutilized indoor space into a welcoming visitors center where natural elements meet man-made ones, and artistic flourishes co-exist with a streamlined design aesthetic.
 
Among the highlights:

• Two lush, 21-foot-high vertical gardens with a variety of living plants surrounded by comfortable seating,  creating an indoor garden sanctuary;
• Floor-to-ceiling fountain incorporating streams of water falling into a small basin surrounded on three sides by dark blue Pietra Luna stone;
• A media wall that displays visitor and Lincoln Center performance information and serves as a canvas for curated video presentations;
•  A 97-foot felt wall art installation on 114 panels by noted Dutch textile artisan Claudy Jongsta;
• 16 architecturally distinctive “occuli” lighting fixtures that bring natural light and state-of-the-art illumination into The Atrium’s interior.

 
**Tickets for “$20 for 20 Days” will only be available for that night’s performances at Lincoln Center and will only be available at the Donald and Barbara Zucker Box Office at the Rubenstein Atrium.  Inventory will change daily based on availability, and availability cannot be guaranteed.

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