Thanks to a multimillion-dollar gift from Diana Nelson and John Atwater, the Brown University will establish a performing arts center that will serve as a hub for theatre, dance, music, and multimedia arts scholarship.
Both Nelson and Atwater, who run a leading real estate equity and an investment firm, have donated $31.6 million to the help the university meet its certain priorities.
Out of the total gift, $20 million will be spent on building a cutting-edge arts center and another $11.6 million on providing financial aid packages to students enrolled in the school.
The building housing the arts center will allow the university to combine art forms, create new stage works, gather world-renowned faculty, artists, scholars from across the different fields.
“The PAC will serve as a nexus for students and faculty to work side by side as they practice, experiment, study and perform,” President Christina Paxson said. “The Diana Nelson and John Atwater Lobby will inspire a spirit of freedom to collaborate and experiment that yields path-breaking work. It will serve as a central convening space for intellectual and artistic collisions that are both planned and spontaneous.”
Atwater is anticipating an academic excellence in arts after the arts center is established.
“The PAC will be transformative in the opportunities it creates for students, faculty, and visitors to campus,” he said. “And will also be a symbol of the University’s bold aspirations in the arts and beyond.”