More than 400 people were on hand last Thursday evening, Mar. 30, to celebrate the renovated lobby at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills at the fifth annual “J Live” event.
Upgrades included a newly reimagined lobby featuring a more open, contemporary floor plan and layout with a larger concession area; a built-in, 11-foot, free-standing video wall; new carpeting, LED lighting and an updated display space in the Joseph & Rebecca Meyerhoff Gallery.
The improvements in design, technology and functionality intend to ensure the center’s programmatic and financial sustainability by increasing rental income and enhanced partnership opportunities.
A menu of desserts, plus complimentary beer and wine, were enjoyed by attendees. There was also a pre-show cocktail and dinner for VIP-level donors.
Award-winning local artist Stacy Lund Levy — whose exhibit is on display currently in the renovated the Meyerhoff Gallery — conducted a hands-on community art project.
Located at 3506 Gwynnbrook Ave. on the campus of the Rosenbloom Owings Mills Jewish Community Center, the 550-seat Gordon Center opened in 1995 — with funding from the Peggy & Yale Gordon Trust — primarily as a classical music venue with a focus on Jewish-themed programming. Today, the center offers a multi-disciplinary performance season of live music, dance, family programs and film, and is home of the JCC’s William and Irene Weinberg Family Baltimore Jewish Film Festival.
The center is considered one of Baltimore County’s premier performing arts venues. It is the centerpiece of the JCC’s Center for Arts & Culture that includes Gordon Outdoors, an outdoor event/performance space, youth arts and virtual cultural programming for adults.
Following last Thursday night’s program, guests sang and danced along to “Motown Forever,” featuring hits performed by such legends as Theo Peoples of The Four Tops, Glenn Leonard of The Temptations and Traci Robinson of The Marvelettes, backed by an all-star live band.
The support of the fifth annual “J Live” ensures that members of the community, regardless of their financial ability, can benefit from JCC programming, including the Habimah Arts Camp, the Stoler Early Learning Center, J Camps and JCC membership.
For information about the Gordon Center, visit jcc.org/gordon-center.
JCC of Greater Baltimore CEO Barak Hermann (right) and Baltimore County Council President Julian E. Jones Jr. (Photo by David Stuck) 
John and Randi Buergenthal (Photo by David Stuck) 
Dawna Cobb and Joseph Meyerhoff II (Photo by David Stuck) 
Larry Plant, Laura Rubenstein and David Max (Photo by David Stuck)
The BCO, founded in 1984, will perform the works of Frank Zappa, Beethoven, Mason Bates and Karena Ingram.
For more than 130 years, Sol Levinson & Bros. has been woven into the fabric of Baltimore’s Jewish community.
Led by local Israel-American cellist Amit Peled, the Mount Vernon Virtuosi aims to inspire people beyond musical enjoyment.
A former college campus activist, Veksler will speak at Chizuk Amuno on June 8 at the Ruth and Jay Lenrow Visiting Scholar-in-Residence for Combating Antisemitism.