Casino Star Theater Foundation

In 2004, the Casino Star Theatre Foundation, a 501(c)(3), took over a shabby Beaux Arts-style theatre in Gunnison, Utah, with the twin missions of restoring the building and providing movies and arts programming otherwise unavailable in the community.  The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 and is located on Historic Highway 89, the backbone of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area.

Now, 12 years later, the beautiful building's unique facade and magnificient Marquee has inspired our community and other Main Street businesses to make improvements and beautify their places.   

Besides film and live programming in the theatre, Casino Star acts as fundraiser and project director for Public Arts and Art Education projects, partnering with both the city and the schools.  Live programming includes an annual World Class Local Talent Revue, as well as a variety of visiting musicians, lecturers, and even a magic show.  We host the Utah Shakespeare Festival touring production every year, and occasionally Utah's interntionally renowned modern dance companies.  We also host an in-state regional final for the Poetry Out Loud competition, a poetry-recitation program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Poetry Association. 

Our Public Art Projects include a 218-foot mosaic dragon along the River Walk under the highway bridge.  More than 200 community volunteers placed tiles and applied grout.  We also managed a project for an undersea mural surrounding the kids' pool at the local swimming pool.  Again, children, youth and adult volunteers applied good oil paint to the walls.  A Legacy Wall of glazed tiles produced by local artists and representing highlights of our history is currently underway in our plaza and we need funds to help us finish this wonderful project.

We are a volunteer organization and need your help so we can continue to provide arts programming to our community and to continue our important restoration work on our 104 year gem.  In addition, we are raising funds to improve our staging capabilities by adding stage lights for our live performances.  

That's why we need donors, and that's why your donation will be so special.