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Reedley College Celebrates Opening of Gleaming New Performing Arts Center
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By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 7 months ago on
November 19, 2024

Attendees check out the auditorium at the new McClarty Center for Fine and Performing Arts at Reedley Colleg, which had its grand opening on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (GV Wire/Nancy Price)

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REEDLEY — The Valley’s newest high-tech performing arts center was unveiled Tuesday morning with a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by speeches inside the center’s state-of-the-art auditorium.

The air was still chilly Tuesday morning as several hundred people, eager to see the inside spaces of the new center, gathered on the plaza outside and were serenaded by the college’s brass quintet.

State Center trustees and administrators, current and former Reedley College officials, and members of the McClarty family cut a big orange ribbon marking the opening of the McClarty Center for Fine and Performing Arts at Reedley College on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (GV Wire/Nancy Price)

Reedley College’s $30 million McClarty Center for Fine and Performing Arts will be a facility not just for the college’s students but for the entire community and region, officials said.

Fantastic Acoustics

For performing musicians, the center’s auditorium will give them the opportunity to showcase their work in a space where acoustics can be fine-tuned to the most-precise degree, State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith told the audience.

The Meyer Constellation Acoustic System can be adjusted to produce the best possible listening experience, Goldsmith said. That, and the rest of the center, would not have been possible without the support of voters who approved Measure C in 2016 as well as donors like Harold McClarty and his family.

“And for those of you in the community, I want to extend our deepest, most sincere thanks for your support in making this vision a reality, because it is truly a gorgeous building,” she said. “And it’s gorgeous because we listened to what you wanted. So thank you for voicing your thoughts and for voicing your dreams.”

Reedley College President Jerry Buckley stands in front of the donor wall in the lobby of the new McClarty Center for Fine and Performing Arts on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (GV Wire/Nancy Price)

HMC Farms owner Harold McClarty, whose family foundation contributed $1 million to the center and is its namesake, joked that he would be able to brag that he was the stage’s first performer. McClarty read four poems with Valley and agriculture themes, including one written by his 10-year-old granddaughter, Lyla Ketelsen.

“What we do next will determine if this was truly a success,” he said. “We need to fill the center with poets, authors, musicians, and artists. This will be the place where for generations we get to be educated, enlightened, and entertained. This is something for our children and grandchildren and more. This is our thank you to all deserving artists, patrons and working people who call this area our home.”

Bringing the Arts to Rural Communities

State Center board president Magdelana Gomez, whose area includes Reedley, said she got emotional trying to express her thanks and sharing a stage with McClarty, a farmer. Gomez, the daughter and granddaughter of farmworkers, said having such a world-class facility means a lot to people in rural communities in the Valley.

“This is a great moment for all of the rural communities because this will be the heart piece. It’s our Disney Hall. It glows in the dark. It’s the mother ship, you name it,” she said. “This is just the heart and soul of what is to become.”

The new McClarty Center for Fine and Performing Arts at Reedley College, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (GV Wire/Nancy Price)

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Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

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