The Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center (ASHPAC), operated by the Ashwaubenon School District, is a beautiful, state-of-the-art, 736-seat performance venue that presents regional, national, and international entertainment and also serves as home to Ashwaubenon School District and community musicals, plays, concerts, and theatre programs. The ASHPAC is dedicated to enriching the cultural landscape of our community through a diverse range of performing arts events with a mission to provide exceptional entertainment experiences that inspire, engage, and bring people together.
The Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center was a long-time vision that became a reality following a highly successful Village of Ashwaubenon referendum in 2014. Working together on plans for the construction of the venue and its operations, the Ashwaubenon School District and Village of Ashwaubenon collaborated on structuring a performing arts center that could successfully serve both the Ashwaubenon School District and community.
And successful it has been.
As ASHPAC Executive Director Kate Williams has repeatedly said, “the Village could have built two performing arts centers to try and accommodate the number of use requests the venue receives each year.”
Constructed adjacent to Ashwaubenon High School along South Ridge Road, the Performing Arts Center features a front lobby entrance for the public while also housing a backstage connection to the high school for student ease-of-access. The Center’s grand opening took place over two days, November 9-10, 2016, with a Community Open House event followed by free performances of the Green Bay Jazz Orchestra, Ashwaubenon High School ENCORE Show Choir, and the United States Air Force “Starlifters” rock band.
Following those celebratory nights, the ASHPAC built roots and gained flight. Williams booked the first performing arts season, created a volunteer Community Advisory Board, and developed a priority use calendaring system to help manage the myriad of school and community use requests pouring in.
In helping to build the Center’s identity as a community venue, then high school musical co-director Helen Marcks drafted the venue’s first logo, and KHROME Agency brought it to life. When it came time to develop a volunteer usher program for the Center, retired Ashwaubenon School District teacher Weston Carvenough generously stepped up to the plate, managing the volunteers – as a volunteer himself – for more than seven years. And as the technical performance needs of the venue increased significantly, Steve Havlichek came on board as the Center’s first full-time Technical Director.
Countless others brought life to the ASHPAC by donating time, talent, and other generous resources. Focused fundraising assistance was provided by Ashwaubenon residents invested in moving the venue forward, with special acknowledgements to Ken Bukowski, Lissa Marth, and Mark Williams for their early and ongoing community outreach and advocacy.
The venue’s decade of success is due to the abundant number of individuals and businesses who invested in making the Center a place for our community’s youth and residents to enjoy. A volunteer Community Advisory Board provides guidance and support, and more than 100 local volunteers provide friendly welcomes, scan tickets, and usher guests to their seats. And you, our guests, bring energy to the venue when you join us at our many events. The Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center truly shines because of the helpful, invested, and engaged community in which we live and play.
Ten years in, the venue is celebrating A Decade Of Applause and planning for the future. Over a decade of time, the Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center has welcomed more than 400,000 people through its doors and is preparing to welcome many more. As activity at the venue has grown, the Center now experiences an average of 60,000 attendees and performers through the space each year. It is truly inspiring to see how enthusiastically the community has embraced the venue, making it a vibrant cultural hub. Preparing For The Future