Art Cinemas 1-2

1924 Wayne Avenue,
Dayton, OH 45410

Unfavorite 2 people favorited this theater

Additional Info

Previous Names: V Theatre, Art Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Art Cinemas 1-2

Opened as the V Theatre on May 8, 1942. It was renamed Art Theatre on April 9, 1949. At one time this theatre was part of Art Theatre Guild, Inc. of Scottsdale, AZ. I was the manager during 1968 - 1969 before moving to Columbus, OH to managed the Bexley and World Theatres. At the time the Little Art Theatre in Yellow Springs, OH was part of our chain and it remains in operation today. The Art Theatre went over to adult movies in 1972 and was twinned on December 22, 1978 becoming the Art Cinemas 1-2.

The theatre has been replaced by a Family Video Store. Speaking with the manager he believes the theatre was torn down around 2004.

In the same theatre building there use to be a coffee house called the Yellow Bird. They had local musical groups perform, sometimes their music drowned out the movie soundtrack and I had to pull the plug. After the coffee house the space was leased to a book and musical album store.

Contributed by MovieMgr

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

MovieMgr
MovieMgr on June 26, 2011 at 8:32 am

Updated and edited on June 26, 2011 I worked for a small chain of Art Theatres from 1963-1973. The company was Art Theatre Guild, Inc. Founded by Louis K.Sher in Bexley, Ohio in 1955. The company moved its HQ to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1963. I was promoted to manager in 1964 and sent to Tucson to operate the original Loft Theatre located at 6th & Fremont, which I also lived in. I also managed the Fine Art in Fresno, The Rockhill in Kansas City, Missouri. The Cinema in Hollywood, the Art Theatre in Dayton along with the Little Art in Yellow Springs, Ohio and The Bexley (then first twin theatre in America) in Bexley, Ohio along with the World Theatre in Columbus and the Opera House in Granville, Ohio. I was the manager of the Bexley and World theatres from 1969 – 1973.

brentworkster
brentworkster on December 21, 2016 at 10:22 am

The Art was the place to go to see Rocky Horror in the 80s, seemed very sketchy. Ran porn most of the time, remember “Blazing Zippers” as the flick before we went.

rivest266
rivest266 on April 1, 2018 at 10:40 am

This opened as V theatre on May 8th, 1942 and reopened as the Art theatre with “Hamlet” on a hard-ticket policy on April 9th, 1949. Full-time adult movies from 1972 and 2nd screen opening on December 22nd, 1978.

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment

Subscribe Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.