Building the Next Stage
A Campaign for Sitar Next Door

WE DID IT!
Thanks to transformational support from 54 donors, the Building the Next Stage capital campaign has surpassed its $5,700,000 fundraising goal and we have successfully closed the campaign!
Building the Next Stage
Sitar Arts Center envisions a city where all young people—regardless of cultural, systemic, or financial barriers—can discover their creativity and achieve their full potential.
In our third decade of partnering with students and families in DC, the community call for Sitar to expand grows louder every day. We are answering this call with an extraordinary opportunity to expand our community impact.
Anchoring the ground floor of a new deeply affordable housing building is Sitar Next Door. This brand-new facility will increase our footprint by 50%, enable us to scale our youth arts education programs, and grow our new career training programming for teens and young adults.
Thanks to the transformational support of the Building the Next Stage capital campaign leaders and donors we are realizing our bold vision for the future.

Thank You Campaign Donors!
Project Updates
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Sitar Arts Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary with Successful Completion of Multimillion-Dollar Capital Campaign
Sitar Arts Center proudly announces the successful conclusion of its transformative capital campaign, Building the Next Stage: A Campaign for Sitar Next Door.
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SEE the possibilities!
The wiring and electrical box are going in for the light grid in Sitar Next Door’s soon-to-open Flex Theater and Community Space.
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A 25-Year View!
In 2025, Sitar Arts Center celebrates a quarter-century of opening doors to visual, performing, and digital arts learning for DC Youth. To mark the milestone, we are opening Sitar Next Door!
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Infrastructure Nearly Complete
Sitar Next Door's infrastructure is very near completion!
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Tours!
It is so much fun to give hard hat tours of Sitar Next Door to our Sitar community!
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Installing Sitar Next Door’s “Storefront” Windows
An exciting day as the new windows are installed on Sitar Next Door at 1724 Kalorama Rd NW.
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Envisioning the Arts Learning Spaces at Sitar Next Door
Take a look at these stunning, to-scale renderings of Sitar Next Door’s studios.
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Video: Sneak Peek into Sitar Next Door!
Follow Sitar Arts Center students Sergio, Manny, and Farah on a special tour of Sitar Next Door!
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Coming soon . . . Sitar Next Door!🎨🛠️🎭
Sitar Next Door is rapidly approaching the final phase of construction and our dreams for the community are taking shape as each studio in the new space takes shape.
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Starting to Come Alive!
At 1724 Kalorama Road NW, the future home of Sitar Arts Center's expansion, every room is starting to come alive.
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Power for Learning
Progress continues on Sitar Next Door, in every studio and even behind the scenes.
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HVAC, Windows, Doors, and More
Most of the base-build is complete on the first floor of 1724 Kalorama Road NW, the future home of Sitar Arts Center's expansion.
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Framing Nearly Complete
The interior framing is nearly complete in Sitar Next Door. We are starting to imagine the impactful arts learning and creations that will happen here!
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Arts Spaces Taking Shape
The arts learning spaces in Sitar Next Door are taking shape!
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Up, Up, and Away!
Construction is advancing at 1724 Kalorama Rd NW, the future site of Sitar Next Door. All work below-ground is finished, and the concrete slab is poured.
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Above Ground Structural Work Commences!
With the foundational work of 1724 Kalorama Rd NW complete, the construction team is now working on above ground structural work to bring Sitar Next Door to life.
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Outlining the Visual Art Studio and Ensemble Rehearsal Room
We are starting the build the walls that will eventually create the new arts learning rooms in Sitar Next Door!
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Deep Foundation Work is 50% Complete
The construction team is halfway done with installing the micropiles along the perimeter walls and securing the foundation.
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Grateful for Strength
The construction crew is installing reinforcements inside 1724 Kalorama Rd NW to make it even stronger.
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ArtsAdvance: Career Studios
While construction at 1724 Kalorama Rd NW is underway, we are building the programming that will soon bring Sitar Next Door to life. Our ArtsAdvance workforce development program is in its pilot phase. Apprentices are training in graphic design, web design, and UX design from September through May.
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A Tribute to Two D.C. Champions: Remembering Diane and Norman Bernstein
The Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation awarded Sitar Arts Center a $500,000 grant toward the Building the Next Stage campaign in celebration of Norman’s 100th birthday in 2020. Today, we honor the great works and lives of Diane and Norman Bernstein.
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Finishing the Foundation
Description goes hereThe foundation work at 1724 Kalorama Rd NW continues! This demolition and groundwork lays the foundation of resurrecting a building that had laid empty for nearly a decade.
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Power Up!
The final beams are coming down to remove the roof and the pipe is laid which will become the electrical room in the new facility – powering Sitar Next Door.
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Digging Down to Build Up
On May 16, the construction team removes the current roof to make space to add two new floors to 1724 Kalorama Rd NW.
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First Phase Complete: Ensuring High-Quality and Safe Facilities for Our Community
Sitar Arts Center completed the first phase of the Building the Next Stage project during the pandemic shutdown in 2020-2021. As DC marks three years since the shutdown order, we look back on how we used that time to ensure the health, safety, sustainability, and artistic excellence of our community arts center.
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Laying the Foundation for Sitar’s Future
On April 12, the first of 8 enlarged columns was completed in Sitar Next Door
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Demolition Makes Way for New Possibilities
After years of laying untouched, 1724 Kalorama Rd NW is in the final phase of demolition, on its way to becoming Sitar Next Door.
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Construction on Sitar Next Door Has Begun!
Construction has begun on Sitar Next Door – Sitar's brand-new facility anchoring the ground floor of a new deeply affordable housing building.
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Breaking Ground on Sitar Next Door: A Day of Forward Action
On November 2, 2022, we broke ground on construction of Sitar Next Door at 1724 Kalorama Rd NW with Mayor Bowser, Councilmember Nadeau, and other distinguished guests. Learn more about our special groundbreaking event, and what’s ahead for our work with Jubilee Housing.
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Supporting Our Families Where They Are: Staying Anchored in Adams Morgan
Sitar Arts Center and the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation share a commitment to DC families. With their partnership, we’re growing in place to support our city’s youth on their path to self-determined success.
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Growing Alongside Our Students: The Bold Vision for Sitar’s Next Stage
Learn how Dweck Philanthropies leveraged its resources to expand arts education access to all young people.
