Des Moines Performing Arts

Des Moines Performing Arts presents the Performing Arts to Iowa and the surrounding states. It is the presenter of major broadway and educational touring companies, performers and groups, and is the Performing home of many local and regional groups, including the Des Moines symphony. The Des Moines civic center, stoner theater, cowles commons, and the temple theater at the temple for Performing Arts are all operated by dmpa. Since its opening in 1979, the Des Moines civic center has become the premier Performing Arts venue in Iowa. Dmpa regularly features a broad range of activities from community events to major broadway tours and national and international Performing artists. Dmpa is the presenter of the willis broadway series, one of the largest touring theatrical subscription programs in the country. In addition, dmpa presents the wellmark blue cross & blue shield family series, the dance series, the prairie meadows temple comedy series, the national geographic series, the popular applause school matinee series, the free outdoor programming series, and the prairie meadows live at the temple concert series. There were 15,282 season ticket holders across all series this year. An important part of dmpa's mission is to provide the facilities at non-profit rates to area organizations. These events range from performances by local comedy groups in the stoner theater to the Iowa military veterans band, ballet Des Moines, Des Moines symphony, and Iowa dance theatre's nutcracker in the civic center.

Education and community engagement programs are core to Des Moines Performing Arts mission as a non-profit Performing Arts organization. More than 70,000 students and community members participate in education-based programs annually. Headlining these initiatives is the applause series, through which more than 37,000 students and educators attend curriculum-connected school matinee performances at dmpa annually at a cost of only $1 per student. Through its partnership with the john f. kennedy center, dmpa provides teachers with in-depth professional development on how to use the Arts in their classrooms to better impact student learning. Dmpa supports budding theater artists through its statewide Iowa high school musical theater awards initiative; more than 90 high schools in every corner of the state receive professional feedback on their school musical, access to hands-on learning opportunities in performance and technical theater areas, and honors for their work that provide increased visibility for their drama programs. Dmpa also leverages its reputation of bringing the best of broadway, dance, and the Performing Arts to Des Moines to provide local artists with invaluable training opportunities. Master classes, workshops, and summer camps give aspiring artists the chance to increase their skills by working directly with those who know what it takes to succeed on the professional stage. Other public offerings include free outdoor summer performances at parks throughout the Des Moines metro, pre and post-show lectures and q&a events for audience members, and theater tours.