The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts

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History “The Isabel” was opened in 2014 and is the central hub for creative arts at Queen’s. Right next to the Lake Ontario shore, this building used to be an old brewery. Since then, it has been rebuilt to a new world-class facility. The original wood from the structure of the brewery was re-milled and used to build the lobby of the new building.

Fun Facts If the Isabel can be said to have a heart, it is the 567-seat performance hall. Virtually a building within a building, no part of the hall touches the rest of the structure directly and its two-foot-thick walls so effectively muffles sound that even if someone outside the hall were pounding on the floor with a hammer, the audience inside wouldn’t hear it.

Academics and Student Life The building features the Jennifer Velva Bernstein Performance Hall, a studio theatre, film screening room, an Art and Media Lab and the Principal Emerita Karen Hitchcock Rehearsal Hall. As the centre for all creative arts at Queen’s, you can find students from the Dan School of Drama and Music, Department of Film and Media, Bachelor of Fine Art Program and the Graduate Program working, studying and hanging out at the Isabel. Within the building there is also a film and media library and a musical instrument library. Aside from academics, the beautiful spaces are also used for concerts, conferences, and theatrical performances.