History

Ithaca’s location at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake and its role as host to Cornell University and Ithaca College gave the city an exceptionally diverse cultural life for a small upstate New York community. The State Theatre opened in 1928, late in the decade of picture palace construction, and its scale — seating approximately 1,600 patrons — reflected the ambitions of a theater operator confident in the sustained demand generated by two large universities. The Italian Renaissance Revival design, with Art Deco ornamental touches in the lobby and auditorium, was consistent with the theatrical architecture of the period.

Through the mid-twentieth century the State Theatre operated as Ithaca’s primary first-run movie house, and in its later decades transitioned to a mixed-use entertainment calendar. A period of declining investment led to the formation of a non-profit operating organization that has managed the theater since the early 2000s, raising funds for ongoing restoration and maintenance while expanding the programming calendar to include touring concerts, dance companies, and film festivals. The State Theatre’s role in Ithaca’s downtown has been reinforced by the adjacent Ithaca Commons, a pedestrian mall created in the 1970s that remains one of the most successful such spaces in upstate New York.

Ithaca’s cultural landscape extends well beyond the theater: the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell (designed by I.M. Pei, 1973), the Sciencenter, Taughannock Falls State Park, and the Finger Lakes wine region make the city a significant cultural and natural destination.