A new arts venue opens in Coral Gables
At first glance, the large building emblazoned with “First Church of Christ Scientist” in Coral Gables may seem like, well, an old Christian Science church. But inside, the building houses a local nonprofit’s theater and dance studio that attracts artists from South Florida to Portugal.
Last weekend, that nonprofit, Sanctuary of the Arts, celebrated its official opening with a three-day program of concerts, dance performances and familyfriendly activities.
Friday evening, the celebrations kicked off with “A Classic Celebration of the Arts,” which featured mezzo-soprano opera singer Solange Merdinian, Miami Chamber Music Society artistic director and pianist Marina Radiushina and a ballet performance by Hernan Montenegro and prima ballerina Mary Carmen Catoya.
The weekend continued with a performance by Miami-based dance company Dance NOW! on Saturday night and a Sunday afternoon “Family Fun
Day” of face painting, open dance classes and cotton candy.
“That’s a microcosm of what we’re trying to do here,” said Mike Eidson, who founded Sanctuary of the Arts.
Sanctuary of the Arts is a multi-disciplinary arts venue that offers small organizations an affordable space to teach, create and perform. For Eidson, a lawyer and longtime arts patron with a penchant for preserving historic architecture, the nonprofit fulfills a longtime dream to bring more arts to Coral Gables.
In 2019, Eidson secured a long-term lease with the church to operate Sanctuary of the Arts out of the two buildings on its oneacre campus on Andalusia Avenue, leading up to the intersection of Le Jeune Road. Since then, the nonprofit converted the larger building from a house of worship to a modern 326-seat theater and a professional dance studio.
“It’s right in the middle of Coral Gables,” Eidson said. “You couldn’t have a finer place anywhere in the country.”
In 2020, he purchased St. Mary First Mission Baptist Church, a historic Black church on Frow Avenue in Coral Gables, for $600,000 after it was deemed unsafe. The church, which is about two miles from Sanctuary’s main campus, is still under renovation. When completed, it will be a community arts center for young people to learn dance, music and theater.
Though the pandemic delayed the group’s ability to invite audiences into its refurbished facilities, it has quietly soft launched some of its programming in recent months. Since last summer, the nonprofit