Wells Fargo Center for the Arts (Santa Rosa, CA)

Located in Santa Rosa California, the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts is a performance venue by U.S. 101.

Owned and operated by the Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation, a non-profit arts organization established in 1979, the WFCA hosts more than 100 performances each year and features three stages: the Ruth Finley Person Theater, which seats approximately 1,600 and is the principal performance space; the Carston Cabaret with a capacity for 300; and the East Auditorium, which can house 400.

There are three resident companies at the WFCA, including the American Philharmonic, Sonoma County, Roustabout Theater, and Santa Rosa Symphony. The Wells Fargo Center for the Arts also boasts dance, theater, comedy, and spoken word, and serves more than 30,000 children and adults every year through its annual education programs.

The Foundation purchased the facility for $4.5 million from the Christian Life Center in the 1970s and first opened to the public in 1981. Wells Fargo Bank bought the naming rights in 2006, but the Foundation still owns and operates the space.

One of the most notable events at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts was comedian George Carlin’s final recorded performance for HBO, It’s Bad For Ya in 2008.