Windgate Foundation Grants $9.49 Million in Support of Arkansas State University
The steel structure of the Windgate Hall of Art and Innovation has been "topped out" on the Arkansas State University campus.
JONESBORO – Windgate Foundation has awarded new grants totaling $9.49 million directed for scholarships, arts education initiatives and community outreach at Arkansas State University, announced Chancellor Todd Shields.
The award comes on the heels of major gifts over the past nine years from Windgate, which has set institutional records for its generosity to support educational advancement at Arkansas State.
In response to proposals from the university, Windgate Foundation board approved:
- An investment of $5.2 million to expand need-based scholarships at A-State.
- A gift of $3.1 million designated to support the Bradbury Art Museum (BAM) directorship, along with BAM operating expenses, additional storage, and facility improvements.
- A gift of $1.19 million specified for programs, equipment and materials for the Windgate Center for Three-Dimensional Arts, which opened at A-State in September 2021.
“We are incredibly grateful to Windgate Foundation for its continued trust and investment in Arkansas State University,” Chancellor Shields said. “Their belief in the power of education and the arts continues to create lasting change on our campus, across our state and in the lives of our students."
The foundation’s representative touched on its board’s intentions with support for A-State.
“Windgate Foundation’s donors are long-time supporters of Arkansas State University. It is their wish to establish endowed funds which will perpetuate their giving to the needs of the organization long beyond their lifetime,” said Pat Forgy, Windgate Foundation executive director, in a letter to university officials. “We are proud to be among your supporters and we look forward to hearing of your successes and future accomplishments.”
The Windgate Foundation has made numerous major gifts to the university. In December 2021, the university announced Windgate’s $25 million gift, the largest single gift in university history, to support construction of a new facility that the Board of Trustees named the Windgate Hall of Art and Innovation. Groundbreaking was held last September, and the steel was “topped off” recently.
“Scholarships change lives. The arts inspire purpose. Windgate’s visionary generosity brings these ideals together in a way that defines what higher education should be,” said ASU System President Dr. Brendan Kelly.
In September 2018, Windgate Foundation awarded $6.7 million to the university for construction of a new arts facility for sculpture and ceramics. The Board of Trustees voted to name this facility the Windgate Center for Three-Dimensional Arts.
The gift for that facility was revealed in a surprise announcement during the dedication of Windgate Gallery in Bradbury Arts Museum, an exhibition space named in recognition of an earlier gift from the foundation.
The Windgate Center for Three-Dimensional Arts was completed in 2021, followed by a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony in September of that year.
Going back to 2016, grants from Windgate Foundation to Bradbury Art Museum have supported needs-based scholarships and BAM’s outreach mission of extending its educational activities and experiences to audiences that might not otherwise have access to the arts.
About Windgate Foundation
Established in 1993 and based in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Windgate Foundation is a private foundation whose purpose is to advance contemporary craft and strengthen visual arts education in the United States. The foundation also supports children and youth in the State of Arkansas. Learn more at: windgatefoundation.org.
