Art, Music and Theater

Bob Hope (Fox) Theatre

The Historic Fox Theatre in Downtown Stockton is one of only two movie palaces in the Central Valley. And well after 20,000 people attended the grand opening on October 14, 1930, the theatre continues to offer well-loved movies and live performances.

In 2001 and in 2002, Congress awarded the City of Stockton $290,000 and $225,000 respectively to help renovate the Fox Theatre.
The State provided an additional a $300,000 with the California Bob Hope Heritage Fund Grant.
In May 2003, Stockton resident and developer Alex G. Spanos donated $500,000 toward the renovation of this historical theatre.
Restoration of the Bob Hope (Fox) Theatre was complete on September 18, 2004.

At his request, the City Council voted to name the theatre after one of the Country's most beloved entertainers – Bob Hope.

To learen more, please contact the Bob Hope (Fox) Theatre at (209) 337-HOPE or see External Links below.

Stockton Civic Theatre

For 65 years, Stockton Civic Theatre has provided live entertainment to the Stockton community. Since 1951, the Civic is one of the oldest and most successful continuously running community theatres in America – with more than 384 productions.

The Civic continues to be a vital part of the Stockton and Central California arts scene thanks to the support of countless volunteers, actors, and patrons.

Over its long history, SCT has setup in several venues:

The Civic started in the Madison School Auditorium where it spent its first 10 years thanks to the Stockton Unified School District.
A new home was found in 1962 when the theatre group purchased the Zion Lutheran Church at Willow and Monroe. The church was remodeled into an intimate proscenium theatre of 197 seats.
The 1980s brought a new era as the Civic moved to a beautiful new theatre, thanks to a land donation in Venetian Bridges by north Stockton developer Echhardt Schmitz. Schmitz buillt the new 16,117-square-foot theatre at cost. Fittingly, the play “Chapter Two”, opened the new 300-seat theatre in September 1981.

In its current site on Rosemarie Lane, behind the Stockton Hilton, SCT presents five productions each season, and a Summer Youth Program full-scale musical production.

For more information and links to their social media, please visit the Stockton Civic Theatre website in external links below.

Public Art in Stockton

The City of Stockton's Public Art Program operates under the guidelines of the City's Public Art Master Plan. The plan is funded with a 2% of the total cost of all capital improvement projects.

Such public art projects include:

Scott Runion's metal tree grates provided one of downtown's first public art projects.
Stockton artist Molly Toberer createdmaintenance hole covers in downtown. The covers exude a unique 1930s style of the Work Progress Administration period.
Dan Snyder's art can be seen in downtown sidewalks. Snyder placed six sets of brass inlays around the downtown area, catching the attention of Guaranty Bank.
Snyder's sidewalk art prompted Guaranty to commission Stockton’s first public/private public art partnership in placing a set of brass inlays in front of the new Guaranty Bank branch on Hunter Street.
Even the Bob Hope Theatre is a recipient of new public art. Check out the sidewalk in front of the theatre and a floor mosaic has placed in the inside rotunda.

For additional information about Public Art in Stockton, please contact the Community Services Department.

Children's Museum of Stockton

The Children's Museum of Stockton resides downtown, across from the Deep Water Channel and the Waterfront Warehouse.

Young visitors enjoy a truly educational experience from the moment they step through the door.

The museum features hands-on, play-based exhibits to enhance a child's understanding of how the world works.

On the exhibit floor over a dozen different child-sized environments recreate the ambiance of a small city where merchants, banker,s and doctors might mingle among the grocery shoppers.
At each exhibit in the museum's tiny town, tools and/or machines that can be manipulated by the children... who weigh postcards at the post office, count money at the bank, and perform various other occupations.

For additional information, please contact the Children's Museum of Stockton at (209) 465-4386 or see the External Links below.

Haggin Museum

For 80 years, the Haggin Museum has acquired, maintained, and exhibited two important types of collections – one devoted to local history and the other comprised of fine works of art.

In 1928, the San Joaquin Pioneer and Historical Society was incorporated to establish a museum for the preservation of local historic objects.

The founding group was aided by former Stocktonian Robert Tittle McKee. McKee's wife, Eila Haggin Mckee, provided funds to include an art gallery as part of the proposed museum. She also donated a collection of paintings which belonged to her father, Louis Terah Haggin. These early events provided the basis for the Haggin Museum's history and art collections.

Haggin Museum also maintains several research libraries which include:

Earl Rowland Art Library,
Almeda May Castle Petzinger Library, which deals with both California and regional history,
Holt Industrial Archives, which includes material relating to leading early industries, and
Stephens Marine Archives, which includes original architect's drawings, hull files, and miscellaneous materials.

Haggin Museum is located in Victory Park, on Pershing Avenue between Picardy Drive and Argonne Drive. For additional information, please contact the Haggin Museum at (209) 940-6300 or see External Links below.

Stockton Symphony

The Stockton Symphony is the third-oldest, continuously performing orchestra in California, surpassed in longevity only by the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It offers both a 5-concert Classics Series and an immensely popular 4-concert Pops Series.

All concerts (except the Pops & Picnic fundraising concert) are held at Atherton Auditorium on the San Joaquin Delta College Campus.

The Symphony prides itself in commissioning new works – one or more each year since Maestro Peter Jaffe joined 17 years ago. The Symphony even received national coverage recently, when it commissioned a new work focused on the issues of conflict and resolution.

The Stockton Symphony continues to "think outside the concert hall" with its Harmony Stockton program:

a free after-school program that combines music introduction and performance with academic tutoring
to assist young students in developing life skills toward personal, academic, and social success.
as a partnership of the Symphony, United Way, UOP and S.U.S.D, to help students develop focus, coordination and shared responsibility in the process of learning.

To learn more about the Stockton Symphony's future performances, guest artists, and volunteering, please call (209) 951-0196 or see the External Links below.