---
title: Arts United and ETC
description: Learn more about how Arts United, one of the most accessible theatres in the nation, worked with the Fort Wayne community to make a lasting impact.
image: https://info.etcconnect.com/hubfs/AU.featuredimage.jpg
---

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# Arts United Campus  Fort Wayne, IN

### Leading the conversation on universal design in community arts

## A community together

In October of 2025, Arts United reopened after completing a multi-year renovation. ETC took a crew to Fort Wayne, IN to interview the stakeholders and learn more about what makes this community so unique.

Miriam Morgan, VP of Operations and COO for Arts United, tells us, “Arts United was founded to meet two objectives. First, downtown Fort Wayne was going through a period of suburbanization and change that needed to be addressed, and second, the fledgling arts organizations of the time needed a home for them to continue their craft.” As plans were made for the renovation, it was important that it remain true to the original Kahn design, while becoming more accommodating to the community.

 “This community invested in the arts on a scale that was unprecedented,” says Zach Benedict, Principal Architect at MK Architecture and Design. “We approach architecture as a cooperative platform. We give people these spaces so they can effectively do the work that they do.” He acknowledges that a true community theatre bears a slightly different burden. “Community theatres are fueled by reciprocity.” The audience recognizes those on stage as their friends and family. And in turn, those on stage recognize the audience as the same. “Making this as inclusive of a space as possible only broadens that feeling, that experience.”

[*Read ETC's blog article here.*](https://blog.etcconnect.com/arts-united-accessibility?hsLang=en)

 

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#### *"Once we got people to understand the “why” so many vendors were immediately on board helping solve the problem.”*

#### *- Raymond Kent*

 

#### *You don’t apply universal design; you integrate it into your ethos.*

#### *- Zach Benedict*

#### *“You start to see it all around you and realize that when you design for the margins, you’re doing something good for the center. It changes your perception of your everyday world.”*

#### *- Miriam Morgan*

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