Friday, February 1, 2008

Snow Trust Donates $50,000 to Washington College Arts Center Project

Chestertown, MD — Allen Malcolm, Chestertown resident and trustee of the New York-based John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, has presented Washington College with $25,000, the first installment of a $50,000 grant for the renovation of the College's Gibson Performing Arts Center.

The grant will help the College meet its $8 million goal for private fund-raising for the $24 million project; to date $4.8 million has been secured from private sources. The necessary remaining funds will come from a $3 million State of Maryland grant and from College reserves.

Scheduled for completion in spring 2009, the new performing arts center will house three performance venues—the main proscenium theater, a 200-seat recital hall and an experimental "black box" theater. Also included in the new building will be climate-controlled gallery space, the Kohl Art Gallery, three classrooms, a music library, keyboard laboratory, music and drama rehearsal halls, and nine practice rooms.

"We are very grateful to the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust for its support of this important project," said Washington College President Baird Tipson. "With their help, we are replacing the old forbidding exterior of Gibson Hall with a dramatic, welcoming new face that will lighten up Martha Washington Square in the evening and draw students and faculty in during the day."

When work is completed, the center will have improved parking and a covered rear entrance allowing protected access to the theater.

"While the construction site is noisy and unsightly right now," Tipson said, "we look forward to the day when this beautiful new facility will enhance life not only for our students, but for the entire Upper Eastern Shore community."

For information on making a tax-deductible donation to the Gibson Performing Arts Center project, call the Washington College Advancement Office at 410/778-7801.

February 1, 2008

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