CONWAY, Ark. — The biggest donation in UCA history will change the way the university looks and sounds. The school announced a $20-million dollar gift today that will create a brand-new art center.
“I’m thrilled to announce a transformative gift from the Windgate Foundation, a gift of $20 million,” UCA President Houston Davis said.
Hundreds of Bears came to learn about what UCA was billing “the biggest announcement in school history.”
“You know, other than the initial shock of that amount of money being awarded, I think it’s so meaningful that there’s people that are willing to invest in the arts,” Louise Mandumbwa, a UCA senior said.
Twenty million is more than UCA received in donations in the entirety of last year. It will create a facility with two performance spaces, one for music and one for theater, as well as more than 40,000 square feet for visual artists like Mandumbwa.
“It’s one [thing] to hear that people support and appreciate the arts, it’s very different to have some type of investment go into tangibly having spaces where art can be made,” she said.
She’s a fine arts major, one of about 250 on campus, but she’s one of just a handful with their own studio space. She said that’s given her a huge advantage, one she hopes to share.
“So, the first thing in my mind is just how many students will be empowered, and really be given the opportunity to create more work," Mandumbwa said.
Mandumbwa said putting so many disciplines together could allow students to collaborate and push each other in exciting ways. Davis said this gift should push everyone in the state to think differently about higher education.
“We continue to open eyes, to challenge and to change the world. And today, we continue our tradition, and today we take a great leap forward together," he said.
The Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts should open in 2022.
Aside from funding for the building, the Windgate Foundation promised $1 million for scholarships.
