Windgate Foundation pledges $20M matching donation to UCA for fine-arts building

CONWAY -- The Windgate Foundation has pledged a $20 million matching contribution to the University of Central Arkansas, the school announced Tuesday.

The gift is the largest in the university's 111-year history. The money will support construction of a new fine-arts building, to be named the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.

Plans call for a 114,000-square-foot center that will include 44,000 square feet of art space, an art gallery, a 450-seat concert hall, a proscenium theater, studio and class space and more. Outside, there will be space for three-dimensional art.

UCA President Houston Davis and Kale Gober, vice president for university advancement, requested the contribution on behalf of the UCA Foundation, said university spokesman Amanda Hoelzeman.

In 1996, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation gave UCA $5.6 million for the Reynolds Performance Hall, until now the largest gift in the university's history.

UCA said in a news release that $19 million of the Windgate gift will go toward the new construction. The remainder of the project will be funded through additional private gifts and other resources, for a total estimated cost of $45 million. The remaining $1 million from Windgate will go into Windgate's scholarship fund at UCA.

"This gift will allow us to fulfill the facilities and scholarship needs that are worthy of our outstanding faculty and students," Davis said in a news release. "We will be able to help more students earn degrees in art and related disciplines, while also graduating a work force of creative problem solvers, critical thinkers, and independent learners.

NW News on 01/23/2019

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