Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook: Visitor Guide
The Staller Center for the Arts is the main performing arts complex at Stony Brook University, with five theaters and an art gallery under one roof. It presents a season of professional music, dance, theater and comedy from September through May, and it also houses the university’s film festival each summer. Because the building sits on a large campus, a visit involves a bit more navigation than a village theater, and the center publishes unusually specific directions and parking information.
The center and its history
The center’s history page states that it opened in 1978, and that it is named in memory of Max and Mary Staller, with a naming plaque unveiled in 1988. Wikipedia’s article on the Staller Center for the Arts gives a more detailed construction timeline, with a first phase in 1975 and a second in 1979, and reports a gift of $1.8 million from the Staller family when the building was renamed in 1988. The two sources disagree on the opening year, which is common for buildings completed in phases.
The same Wikipedia entry reports that the Recital Hall houses a Bösendorfer Imperial grand piano donated by Billy Joel.
Milestones in the building’s story
Wikipedia’s account fills in the sequence. Construction began in 1972 after the state approved nearly $10 million for the first phase, against an estimated total of $15 million. In 1977 a covered link nicknamed the “Bridge to Nowhere” opened, connecting the center with the Student Union and the Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library. Phase two, with theater arts facilities, two black box theaters, a recital hall and a concert hall, followed in 1979.
Some episodes were less planned. Winter weather damaged the building in 1981, and a February 1993 water main break flooded it, causing roughly $3 million in structural and equipment damage before a May reopening. The first Bach Aria Festival was held in June 1981 and ran annually until 1997. In 2013 the university gallery was renamed the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery.
These details come from a secondary source, and the center’s own history page uses a different opening year, so the official page remains the reference for anything that matters to a visit.
The venues
According to the center’s history page, the building holds five theaters and the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery.
- Main Stage Theater: about 1,050 seats. Since 1994 the center has shown 35mm film here on what it describes as Long Island’s largest screen, and it added digital cinema projection in 2013.
- Recital Hall: 380 seats, described on the center’s site as an intimate space.
- Three black box theaters: 75 to 225 seats each.
- Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery: over 5,000 square feet, on the first floor of the building.
Outside presenters also use the building, and the history page names Seiskaya Ballet, which stages The Nutcracker. The center says its season includes more than 50 professional performances and about 450 events across the art, theater arts and music departments.
What is on this fall
The center’s home page listed a Fall 2026 lineup when it was read in mid-October. Dates named there included Gravity & Other Myths on October 18 and Paul Reiser on October 24. Disney Pixar’s Coco in Concert and One Vision of Queen also appeared without dates in the text that was read, and the page notes that tickets were on sale. Because this snapshot may be incomplete, the season page is the dependable list.
Tickets are sold online through the center’s ticketing site, and the box office can be reached at (631) 632-ARTS (2787) or by email at boxoffice@stallercenter.com. The membership page lists tiers from $125 to $5,000, with year-round discounts on Staller Center presents events ranging from 5 percent at the $250 level to 25 percent at the $5,000 level, and says members do not pay the $5-per-ticket online fee.
Higher membership tiers add other benefits. The page lists early ticket access at the $250 Friends level, a reserved premium seating section for Live Season performances at $500, and first access before the public plus Film Festival passes and Founder’s Room access at $1,000 and above. Payments are routed through the Stony Brook Foundation and are described as non-refundable and non-transferable, so the terms are worth reading before joining.
Before the performance
The center’s pages suggest a few steps that save time on a first visit. The parking page links a virtual tour that starts from the garage, which shows the walk to the building, and a second tour covers the accessible entrance. A downloadable walking map is also provided. With a campus this size, arriving with extra time lets visitors find the right entrance and the correct theater, since the building holds several performance spaces.
The Zuccaire Gallery
The gallery is an easy way to see part of the building without a ticket. Its home page states that admission is free and open to the public. Weekday hours through October 24 are noon to 4 p.m., with extended access on evenings of Staller Center performances, and Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on October 24. The current exhibition, Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence, includes tapestries, video and works on paper and runs through October 24. Visits at other times can be arranged by emailing at least 24 hours ahead.
Getting there
The directions page gives the address as 100 Nicolls Road, at the Main Entrance to the West Campus. From the Long Island Expressway (I-495), drivers take Exit 62, North Nicolls Road (Route 97), and travel about nine miles north to the West Campus Main Entrance, passing the South Campus entrance on the way. A left onto Shirley Kenny Drive leads to the parking garage, and the center sits diagonally across from the Administration Building.
By train, the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson line serves Stony Brook station. The directions page lists taxis at the station and university buses from the commuter parking area, and describes the campus as about one mile away, with a pathway across the playing fields for walkers.
Parking
The parking page says parking is free in the Visitors’ Parking Garage for live season performances at Staller Center. Drivers who prefer a surface lot can turn right at Circle Drive instead of continuing to the garage. The page does not state garage hours, a shuttle, or an accessible-parking layout, although it links a virtual tour that shows the route to the accessible entrance and drop-off point, and a walking map in PDF form.
Fees apply at other times. The Zuccaire Gallery’s parking page lists the Administration garage at $4 an hour or $28 a day on weekdays before 7 p.m., with unrestricted and metered lots free from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends. It also places accessible parking behind the Staller Center, with a ramp to the east side of the building, and says drop-off in front of the building is available by appointment when requested at least three days ahead.
Film festival and nearby stops
The Stony Brook Film Festival is produced by the center and held in the Main Stage Theater, and its site reports 31 years of history with 87 countries represented. The center’s history page places the festival in July each year, and Wikipedia reports that the center has produced it annually since 1996, with a ten-day run and attendance above 15,000.
Visitors planning a full day around a performance will find other Stony Brook stops described elsewhere, among them the Stony Brook Village Center with its shops, restaurants and museums nearby. A local roundup of seasonal programming is available in the Stony Brook Village events guide, and the surrounding community is covered in the Setauket and East Setauket neighborhood guide.
This article is general information about a public venue and is not a recommendation of any performance.
Hours, programs and prices change; confirm details with the official sources linked above before visiting.
