Lakewood is one of very few cities that has a place for people of all ages to come together and experience new things and let out their creative energy. The Beck Center for the Arts is one of those places, it has been a place for people to do all kinds of creative things. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring young and old minds.

They offer dance classes, all sorts of theater and music programs and visual arts programs, but if you are lower on the creative energy scale and none of these wonderful activities appeal to you, you can also just come down to see a play or to walk through the gallery and admire the new artwork by local artist.

The Beck serves “over 3,000 each week with over 200 award-winning classes and programs” according to their website, so there is something for everyone.

Student, Sarah Whitkofski, a sophomore at Lakewood High School, Says “The Beck was an amazing experience for me, I did the camps all throughout my childhood and it showed me my passion for acting” The beck helps show many young and older people their secret passions for the arts.

They are a Small Professional Theater (SPT) and a producing theater meaning, that every show is on their stages and they chose the play and the cast and build all the props, sets and costumes themselves, and direct and perform the music.

The Beck Center’s outreach program is one of the ways the Beck is bringing an arts experience to northeast Ohio communities. it offers “A wide variety of hands on arts education activities” This program gets young people from early childhood all the way through high school seniors involved in the arts through  field trips and workshops for schools and communities.

Upcoming events at the Beck include Shrek the Musical and Matilda the Musical both directed by Scott Spence who is celebrating his 25th season at the Beck Center. So stop by and check them out. Dates and times can be found online at their website, as well as tickets.