Advances University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation, Inc.
The Newsletter of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation | July 2014 | Vol. 5 - No. 2
Challenge Accepted to Raise $2.5 Million
For the love of education and art, the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Foundation has accepted a challenge to raise $2.5 million for the new visual arts building being constructed at the corner of Waldron Road and Kinkead Avenue. The challenge came from the Windgate Charitable Foundation of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, which donated $13 million to fund the building’s construction and equipment, and with an additional $2.5 million offered as a matching challenge grant to establish an endowment for the building. “We know of the love that our supporters have for this university and the arts. We are confident that we can rise to meet this challenge,” said Mary Lackie, vice chancellor for university advancement and executive director of the UAFS foundation. When it opens in 2015, the new 58,000-square-foot building will do more than change the university’s footprint with its gallery spaces, 150-seat film theater, letterpress
and printmaking operations, graphic design labs and classroom space. It also will create one home for the visual arts, which are now scattered in five buildings across campus, and promote a synergy of artists working and creating in one space. And it will create an environment imbued with artistry for the hundreds of students entering the doors for their general education courses in the arts. “In the end, it’s about the students,” said Henry Rinne, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. But university officials know that the visual arts building will have an impact well beyond campus, with its galleries, art lectures and possible film festivals, as well as art shows of regional and national interest. “We see this facility as one that will further enhance the university’s role in the arts in this region,” said Chancellor Paul Beran.
The UAFS foundation is looking for partners to help it meet its goal, which will create an endowment for the building. Donations in any amount are helpful and greatly appreciated. Naming opportunities are available at levels ranging from $5,000 to $500,000. For more information, contact Mary Lackie at 479-788-7021, or find naming opportunities online at uafs.edu/foundation/visual-arts-building.
LENDING A BIGGER HAND As the UAFS Foundation’s endowment has grown, so has its ability to help more students and to do more for the university. Gifts help the university to provide scholarships, purchase equipment, provide enrichment opportunities for students and in so many other ways. MONEY GIVEN IN SCHOLARSHIPS 2008-09
$768,440
MONEY GIVEN IN SCHOLARSHIPS 2013-14
STUDENTS HELPED 2008-09 STUDENTS HELPED 2013-14
$1,079,001
EQUIPMENT PURCHASED 2008-09
$110,943
$402,486
5210 Grand Avenue • Fort Smith, AR 72903 uafsfoundation.org
EQUIPMENT PURCHASED 2013-14