The Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts activates the power of the arts at Oregon State University and beyond. With a shorter branded name, PRAx establishes the center with statewide and national audiences, and positions OSU as a leader in integrating arts and the humanities with science and technology. PRAx provides symbolic meaning to words describing the arts such as “experiential” and “experimental,” and creates opportunities for visitors to engage with art in meaningful and practical ways.
Coming April 2024.

PRAx, which will be prominently located at the corner of 15th and Washington Way, will serve as a highly visible entrance to campus – emphasizing OSU's commitment to the arts and to a culture of creativity. The center supports university goals of moving from a STEM to STEAM education model and provides additional performance and event space on campus. PRAx will serve as a statewide portal to the arts, enabling collaboration with public school systems throughout the state to ensure that all Oregonians have better access and exposure to the arts. Visit the Holst Architecture website for information about the design details that bring this dream to life.

Follow PRAx on social media @OregonStatePRAx

PRAx will feature an acoustically superior concert hall that doubles as a classroom, and a smaller, black box performance space that can be configured in multiple ways for theater productions, rehearsals and teaching. The large stage will accommodate a range of performances from soloists to a 100-person chorus. Backstage and support space will be integrated throughout the center to support arts productions and break down barriers between teaching, rehearsal and performance. Art gallery space will feature secure, dramatically lit spaces with appropriate climate control for displaying OSU's art collections and featuring cutting-edge art shows.

Name a seat in PRAx

You can make your mark on the future or celebrate someone special with an engraved plaque on one or more of these seats. Learn more

 

2022-2027

PRAx Strategic Plan

PRAx activates the power of the arts across disciplines at Oregon State University.

PRAx uses its marquee venues to present content in music, theatre, dance, film, design, visual and installation arts, media and digital arts, industrial arts, science-based arts, literary arts, and experimental forms. It uses its networking capability to organize, amplify, and publicize arts activity in spaces outside the physical building – including community sites, research laboratories, field stations near and far, and settings where artists and creative thinkers bring new ways of looking at familiar content.

PRAx does this work in order to inspire new audiences, to reframe perspectives on complex problems, and to activate the range, depth, and diversity of the large public research university that it represents.

DOWNLOAD THE STRATEGIC PLAN

Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts

Leading Oregon State University donor’s gifts surpass $36 million for the arts

Oregon State University celebrated business leader, philanthropist and OSU alumna Patricia Valian Reser Friday night for a decade of transformative gifts totaling more than $36 million for university arts programs, faculty, students and facilities.

Oregon State announced that a new $75 million arts center under construction on its Corvallis campus will be named the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts. The announcement was made as the university and the OSU Foundation publicly launched Oregon State’s second university-wide fundraising and engagement campaign.

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PRAx Leadership

OSU College of Liberal Arts appoints inaugural Patricia Valian Reser Director of Arts and Education

Peter Betjemann, a national expert on the history of art, design and literature, has been named the inaugural Patricia Valian Reser Director of Arts and Education for PRAx.

Betjemann, director of the college’s School of Writing, Literature and Film since 2016, will oversee the opening of PRAx. Construction of the $70 million center will begin this summer with the 49,000-square foot center to open in April 2024. read more >

Peter Betjemann

Topping out ceremony at The Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts

 

PRAx Construction

Construction Progress

Prominently located at the corner of 15th Street and Washington Way, PRAx will serve as a highly visible entrance to campus - emphasizing the university’s commitment to the arts and to a culture of creativity.

View the Webcam

Building the dream

Sound decisions

A team of experts sweats out the smallest details to create superior acoustics for PRAx

We usually think about the work of architects in terms of how the buildings they design look.

But for the designers of PRAx, another question was just as important: How will the building sound?

The facility, now under construction on the southeast corner of OSU’s Corvallis campus, will include the Lynne Hallstrom Detrick Concert Hall and Edward J. Ray Theater. The acoustics need to be terrific in both of those spaces.

And not just in there: The 49,000-square-foot building also will include a greenroom/classroom, a gallery, multiple areas to display artwork and Thomas W. Toomey Lobby designed for flexibility. The sound needs to be good in those spaces as well.

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Peter Betjemann

PRAx

Emeritus by John Grade

October 14, 2022 — OSU Memorial Union Quad

Presented by PRAx, the College of Forestry, the Office of the Provost, and the College of Liberal Arts


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Classroom Rehearsal Building

The project will also include a renovation to the current Anderson & Keeling Memorial Target Range, which will turn this historic building into a classroom and rehearsal space. Built in 1910 as the original heat plant for campus, the building is a part of the Corvallis Historic District and required close coordination with the Corvallis Historic Commission to restore the character and appearance of the building. This world-class rehearsal space will accommodate up to 80 students for choral rehearsal and music history classes.

Project Details

Projected Start Date: Groundbreaking in June of 2020

Project Opening Date: April 2024

Project Budget: $70 million

  • $35 million gifts
  • $35 million state-paid bonds

Project Manager: Julie Drolet

Construction Manager: Rick Freeman

Architect: Holst Architecture

 

Bringing the dream to life

Starting with a thrilling $25 million gift in 2017, over 175 donors have come together to support PRAx. Fundraising is ongoing and gifts of every amount will help make this dream a reality. If you’d like to learn about giving options—including naming a space in the new facility—contact Grady Goodall, Director of Development, at 541-231-1111 or grady.goodall@osufoundation.org. Or you can click here to make a gift and name a seat today in the Lynne Hallstrom Detrick Concert Hall.

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