In partnership with Plano ISD’s Education Foundation, the district has launched a $3.2 million campaign for its upcoming fine arts center.
The Robbie & Lynore Robinson Fine Arts Center announced receiving upwards of $620,000 at a kickoff fundraising event for the Staging the Future Endowment Campaign May 7.
Among large endowments shared that night were $70,000 from outgoing PISD board president Tammy Richards and husband Mike Douglass, $20,000 from a Friends and Family of Kathy Kuddes fund, $15,000 from the Plano Rotary Foundation and a $500,000 seeding donation from the Robinson Family Trust. With these donations, the main auditorium, lobby, balcony staircase and other areas of the center were given official titles.
The district and Staging the Future Endowment Campaign invite corporations, foundations, community groups, citizens, alumni and more to support the legacy of fine arts in PISD, the two shared in a release.
“Now is the time to be part of the legacy,” said campaign chairperson Missy Bender in the release. “This campaign is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for donors whose names will be permanently etched into the legacy that is Plano ISD’s Robinson Fine Arts Center.”
These funds will be used to fund a portion of the center’s annual operating costs. Construction of the Robinson fine arts center was funded through the district’s 2016 bond.
Lead gift donors will be invited on a first-look hard-hat tour of the facility, which expanses a more than 80,000 square-feet space at 1800 Alma Drive, Plano. Expected to open in 2021, the venue will feature a 1,500 seat, two level auditorium with a balcony, a studio theater that can seat up to 250 patrons, and a dance and rehearsal room that can accommodate 120 musicians, 30 dancers or 200 meeting attendees, per a release from PISD.
The Legacy Gallery, named for Dr. Robinson’s role in the development of Legacy Business Park, will serve as a dedicated art gallery at the center. Additional performance and production areas include a scene shop, art studio, dressing rooms, green room, break room and meeting room.
More information on the endowment campaign can be found here.
