David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts

About us:

The Straz Center inspires audiences and artists to dream and discover, to create and celebrate. 

Located on the bank of the historic Hillsborough River, the Straz Center serves as a cultural crossroads, bringing innovative new artists and blockbuster commercial successes to the Tampa Bay community. With its award-winning outreach programs that take the arts to underserved school children and the only accredited performing arts school in the region, the Patel Conservatory, the Straz Center also nurtures the creative spark and transforms lives.

Driving $110 million annually, the Straz Center proudly supports the Tampa Bay economy and is the fourth largest performing arts institution in the country. In addition to four theaters and one teaching theater, the Straz Center has three restaurants and a brand new coffee shop, SteamHeat Café.

Over the past 26 years, the Straz Center has solidified its place as a valued community partner dedicated to enriching the lives of people living in and visiting Florida. 

“The Straz Center has succeeded far beyond what even the most optimistic supporters had hoped. Today, we continue to be innovators and dreamers.  Even as we celebrate the past, we look to the future.” – Judy Lisi, Straz Center President.