Our Purpose

The Northampton Center for the Arts (NCFA) is a private, non-profit arts organization established in 1984 to promote the arts in the greater Northampton area. Located in downtown Northampton adjacent to the Academy of Music, NCFA provides low-cost exhibit and performance space for area artists and arts organizations in an elegant turn-of-the-century performance hall and two adjoining galleries. NCFA is dedicated to programming theater, music, art and dance that is culturally diverse.

Our People

Executive Director: Penny Burke
Associate Director: Lisa Leizman
Operations Manager: Steve Davis

Board of Directors

  • Rick Feldman, Chair
  • Nancy Goldstein, Vice-Chair
  • Lisa Kmetz, Treasurer
  • Ann Shanahan, Clerk
  • Phil Hueber
  • Claudio Lefko
  • Bud Stockwell
  • Michael White

Our Space

Ballroom

The Center's versatile historic ballroom—a theater, a concert hall, a rehearsal space—serves as a venue for The Performance Project, New World Theater, Commonwealth Opera, Sacred Harp Convention, New England Double Bass Society, Valley Arts Project, Feelin' the Beat, Northampton Independent Film Festival—among others. It is also home base for the Lisa Leizman Dance Company, the Ballet Theater of Northampton, our signature Jazz Masters Piano concerts, and our totally new Preschool Performing Arts Series.

A Community Exhibition Space

Our two galleries highlight an extraordinary array of works by guest artists, from kinetic sculpture and installation art to monthly exhibitions with themes such as Ancestral Voices, Women's Work, and Figuratively Speaking. One gallery doubles as a community arts space where artists may offer public workshops and demonstrations. We thrive on collaborative projects—NHS Artsfest, Art Outside the Box, Show Us Your Bra—and we are a proud participant in Northampton's Arts Night Out.

A Community Events Space

Affordable and accessible, the Center hosts community organizations that gather for special meetings and fundraising events. These include benefits for the Northampton High School PTO, Franklin Community Action Youth Programs, Western Mass Hilltown Cooperative Charter School, the Hartsbrook School, Hairston House, AIDS Care Hampshire County, Northampton Pride, and the Greensboro Justice Fund.

A Community Learning Space

In addition to events in our community art space, ongoing classes and workshops (on our freshly refinished ballroom floor) feature an incredible number of dance options. From ballet, modern, contact improvisation, and tap to ballroom, salsa, swing, tango, flamenco, and zydeco, we've got the community moving. We’re especially proud of "Acting Out," a Center-sponsored theater workshop ensemble for children that provides a multi-week performing opportunity twice a year and culminates in performances.