Feature Article » Transformational Windgate Gift
By Liz Smith, Associate Chair / Associate Professor of Art, Ceramics »
This is an incredibly exciting time in the art department! Change is in the air and we are on a steep upward trajectory! The most significant news of the past few months is that the University of Central Arkansas College of Fine Arts and Communication has received a generous matching gift from the Windgate Foundation for the construction of a new Fine and Performing Arts building. Plans for the 114,000 square foot Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts will include 44, 000 square feet of art space, exterior space for three dimensional art equipment and materials and a gallery as well as a concert hall and a proscenium theater. Of course we could hardly be more thrilled. Our hope is that this facility will get our art departments students, faculty and staff all under one beautiful state-of-the-art roof, fostering further cross disciplinary collaboration between studio disciplines as well as with our performing arts colleagues.
Of the total 20 million dollar gift 19 million will be put towards the new construction. The remaining one million will be added to the art departments current Windgate Scholarship Fund, which was established in 2005. This original scholarship fund has been utilized to provide full and partial scholarships to our most outstanding art students as well as funding our growing list of internship and partnership opportunities with artists and art centers around the country such as the Chautauqua School of Art and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. With this additional funding we will be able to dramatically expand these opportunities. The department is dedicated to effectively using this generous gift to provide and support outstanding creative learning opportunities for our talented students. Keep checking back to our website to stay abreast of all of the new and amazing things happening in the art department at UCA!
Please see the link below to read the full official announcement of this most generous gift.
https://uca.edu/news/uca-receives-20-million-for-fine-and-performing-arts-center-from-windgate-foundation/
