The National Arts Center, on the slopes of Mount Makiling at Los Baños, was established in 1976 as a residential training centre for performing arts. The complex includes an outdoor amphitheatre, rehearsal halls, and dormitory facilities set in the forest. The Philippine High School for the Arts — a government secondary school for gifted young artists — shares the compound.
The centre hosts occasional public performances, particularly during the Kultura festival period. The forest campus setting gives it a different character from urban arts venues — performances take place against a backdrop of forested hillside. The outdoor amphitheatre has good natural acoustics. Check the programme before visiting, as facilities are not always open to the public outside performance schedules.