After hundreds of performances by thousands of students, the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts is still a very young member of the Cornell family.

When it opened in 1988 as the Center for Theatre Arts, it provided much-needed space for productions and class work, from the proscenium Kiplinger Theatre to the Film Forum, Dance Theatre and Black Box Theatre; editing rooms; the offices of the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance; and space to build elaborate sets.

Previously, shows on campus were staged in cramped quarters, including the 300-seat Willard Straight Theatre and the even tinier Drummond Theatre in Lincoln Hall. Larger productions had to go downtown to the Lyceum.

The Schwartz Center is a multipurpose facility for education, professional training and public performance. "I think it's become a model in the country for an apprenticeship training program for theater," said longtime theater professor Bruce Levitt. "There are anywhere from 50 to 150 students involved onstage and backstage in any one of our productions."

The building itself (designed by architects James Stirling and Michael Wilford) is a magnet for creative students.

"Once a student came into the building and asked how she could sign up for dance," artistic director David Feldshuh said. "I asked her how she heard about the program. She said she was in Collegetown, looked up and saw people dancing in the window, and it made her want to dance."

It all began, appropriately, with a song.

"When the decision was made to build the performing arts center, [then-President] Frank Rhodes was looking to kick off the funding campaign," Levitt said. "He went to Herb Gussman, for whom the lobby is named, and Herb made the initial large contribution on the condition that when the dedication was made, he would play the piano and Frank would sing the alumni song."

When Levitt ran into Gussman on campus before the dedication, "he asked if we'd gotten the pianos yet. When I said we didn't, he was gracious enough to arrange for us to get a Steinway, which we still have."

After Gussman, other donors stepped up, and continue to do so. Levitt believes the center "has been a catalyst for all sorts of activity on campus."

"Many of the donors to the performing arts center were first-time donors to Cornell, as it was important to them to build what would be a beacon for the arts on campus," he said. "They wanted to expand Cornell's liberal arts profile. Since then, many of them have donated to many other projects, including the sciences."

The Schwartz Center's 20th anniversary season continues Jan. 28-Feb. 8 with "The Body Project." For information, see http://www.arts.cornell.edu/theatrearts.