PNCA Announces $1 Million Capital Gift from Dorothy Lemelson
June 02, 2013
FOR RELEASE ON June 3, 2013
Contact: Lisa Radon, Communications Specialist
lradon@pnca.edu 971-255-5528
Becca Biggs, Director of Communications
bbiggs@pnca.edu 503-821-8892
PNCA Announces $1 Million Capital Gift from Dorothy Lemelson Part of $15 million philanthropic effort to support strategic campus expansion to North Park Blocks PORTLAND, OR – June 3, 2013 – At its 11th annual gala on Saturday, June 1, Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) announced a $1 million gift from Dorothy Lemelson toward its $15 million philanthropic campaign, CREATIVITY WORKS HERE, in support of the College’s strategic move to renovate the historic former federal post office at 511 NW Broadway and anchor the PNCA campus on Portland’s North Park Blocks.
Dorothy Lemelson, chair of The Lemelson Foundation and a longtime supporter of PNCA through the signature Dorothy Lemelson Scholars program, serves as Honorary Co-Chair of the PNCA Creativity Works Here campaign along with Arlene Schnitzer. Her gift will create the Dorothy Lemelson Innovation Studio, a signature public space devoted to experiential student learning opportunities and collaborative community programming. “It is especially fitting that the College’s strategic efforts around innovation, design, and entrepreneurship will be housed in the Dorothy Lemelson Innovation Studio,” noted PNCA president Tom Manley. “Dolly has not only been a stalwart supporter of the College, but a national leader in recognizing the power of art and design to solve problems.” “We are extraordinarily grateful for Dolly’s leadership in this endeavor,” said Ann Edlen, Chair of the PNCA Board of Governors. Commitments to the campaign, which was launched in June 2012, now total $10.1 million and include a naming gift of $5 million from The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation to name the renovated building the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design. Other recent gifts include $400,000 from the Meyer Memorial Trust and $100,000 from the Ann and Bill Swindells Charitable Trust.
PNCA’s expanded campus will create a world-class learning center anchored on the North Park blocks near its partner, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, and the new ArtHouse PNCA residential student housing facility, scheduled to open in Fall 2013.
About Pacific Northwest College of Art
As Oregon’s flagship college of art and design since 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art has helped shape Oregon’s visual arts landscape for more than a century.PNCA students study with award-winning faculty in small classes. In the last seven years, PNCA has doubled both the student body and full-time faculty, quadrupled its endowment, and added innovative undergraduate and graduate programs. PNCA is now embarking on its boldest venture yet by establishing the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design as an anchor for the College’s vision of a new campus home on Portland’s North Park Blocks. Focusing on the transformative power of creativity, the capital campaign, Creativity Works Here, was launched in June 2012 with a lead gift from The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation of $5 million. PNCA’s new home will be a bustling hub for creativity and entrepreneurship, reflecting the influential role of art and design in our 21st century economy – both in Portland and beyond.
For more information, visit pnca.edu.