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Iowa-based foundation gives $500,000 to support UI arts programs
Posted June 25, 2002
IOWA CITY -- Students and faculty in two of the University of Iowa's most prestigious arts programs -- the School of Art and Art History and the Writers' Workshop -- are beneficiaries of a $500,000 gift to the UI Foundation from the Mansfield Charitable Foundation of Belle Plaine, Iowa. With $400,000 of the gift, the School of Art and Art History will create the Mansfield Media Theatre in the school's new building, scheduled for completion by early 2005. The theatre will be a versatile, interdisciplinary facility for use by student and faculty artists working in a variety of media, including performance, digital and intermedia arts. The remaining $100,000 of the gift will help fund construction of a new addition to Dey House, home of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Dey House is scheduled to undergo renovation and expansion, with completion anticipated in 2004. Linda Maxson, dean of the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which includes all UI academic arts programs, praised the Mansfield Charitable Foundation for its generosity.
"The School of Art and Art History and the Writers' Workshop are key elements of the UI's traditional emphasis on the arts, but both have long been in need of better facilities," Maxson said. "We are extremely grateful to the Mansfield Foundation for helping us better serve our students and advance the UI's reputation as a leader in the arts." The Mansfield Charitable Foundation was established in 1984 by Wesley and Irene Mansfield of Belle Plaine, Iowa. The Mansfields owned movie theatres and other successful business ventures around the Midwest. Irene Mansfield died in 1987, and Wesley Mansfield died in 1988. Individually and through their charitable foundation, they have donated millions of dollars to a wide range of public-service initiatives, including earlier gifts to the UI for the UI Hospitals and Clinics' Center for Disabilities and Development (formerly the University Hospital School). The gift from the Mansfield Foundation is part of the UI's $850 million comprehensive campaign, which will run through 2005 and is being conducted under the guidance of the UI Foundation. Named Good. Better. Best. Iowa: The Campaign to Advance Our Great University, the seven-year effort is raising private funds to help launch a variety of initiatives across the university, substantially increase the number of UI scholarships and endowed faculty positions, support new educational and research facilities, build the UI's endowment, and fund outreach and service programs to benefit Iowans. The UI Foundation is the preferred channel for private contributions to all areas of the university. Contact Information
Kristin Loupee Beckman Additional information about supporting the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences also is available on this site. |
