Fulfilling the Promise: The Performing Arts at Reed https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2011/fulfilling-the-promise-the-performing-arts-at-reed https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

Fulfilling the Promise: The Performing Arts at Reed

Additional Information
Used for	Funding from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation will be used to help fund the construction of a new performing arts building to house the departments of dance, music and theatre. The new 70,612 square foot facility will have a 180 seat studio theatre, a 99 seat black box theatre, rehearsal space for all three programs, dance studio teaching space, a library and computing center, instrumental, voice and piano practice studios, and classrooms and faculty offices.
Benefits	We estimate that about 50% of all students enroll in a performing arts class or take a dance course such as ballroom dance or tango through the physical education program during their time at Reed, so these students will be among the primary beneficiaries of this new building. Our ten performing arts faculty members will be positively affected by this change. The new building will make teaching much easier, and facilitate existing efforts to collaborate with others in the community. A recent count found that they were working with 29 different local performing arts organizations in a variety of ways, from developing creative projects, to serving on their boards.
Proposal Description	Dance, music, and theatre represent an important component of Reed’s educational program and are popular programs at the college. About 50% of all students enroll in a performing arts class or take a dance course such as ballroom dance or tango through the physical education program during their time at Reed, based on an analysis of courses taken by graduating seniors between 2007 and 2010 by Reed’s office of the registrar. Many more perform in dance, music, or theatre performances directed by faculty members or students, or participate in informal student performing arts groups, such as dance troupe or cabaret. Despite their curricular importance and students’ demonstrated interest in the performing arts, Reed has struggled for decades to provide appropriate staffing for them. Prior to 2006, the dance, music, and theatre departments had the fewest faculty members, with less than 3 faculty members each. This has limited their curricula. Faculty members in other disciplines have expressed concern about the lack of support for the performing arts program overall. As it has become more financially secure, Reed has gradually strengthened the visual art, humanities, social science, and science programs, but dance, music, and theatre have not benefited proportionately from fundraising and institutional support. Today, the performing arts programs continue to operate out of six buildings scattered across campus. This hinders collaboration and interdisciplinary work. Many of the spaces they use are of substandard quality. The dance department lacks dedicated space other than its offices. No rehearsal spaces offer sprung floors; performance spaces must be created for each show. We have been concerned about how the lack of quality performing arts facilities is affecting efforts to serve a more diverse student body, improve retention and graduation rates, and enhance admission. Reed has been attracting a more diverse student body, but it needs to provide more ways in which students from different backgrounds can interact and learn from each other. Noted education researcher Richard Light has written in his book, Making the Most of College: Students Speak their Minds, that the performing arts can serve precisely this role, by bringing students from diverse academic backgrounds together because of their common interest in creating and presenting a first-class play, concert or ballet. During 2004-05, Reed engaged in an extensive strategic planning process that involved the board of trustees, faculty, staff and students. As result of the planning process, the entire Reed faculty approved initiatives for the performing arts as part of our Centennial Campaign. At this time, we are seeking the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation’s support for the most critical academic component of the campaign: a new performing arts building to house the departments of dance, music and theatre. The new 70,612 square foot facility will have a 180 seat studio theatre, a 99 seat black box theatre, rehearsal space for all three programs, dance studio teaching space, a library and computing center, instrumental, voice and piano practice studios, and classrooms and faculty offices. The building will feature performance spaces with projection and video and design studio with Computer Assisted Design stations. The building will be accessible to people in wheelchairs, and will be adjacent to Kaul, making that facility accessible from the west parking lot via a new entrance. We will break ground on the first part of this new building in August 2011 and complete construction during the summer of 2013. Reed’s faculty and board of trustees approved a sustainability mission for the college in 2006 and 2007, respectively. In keeping with this mission, the new performing arts building will include a number of sustainable design measures. While not currently slated for the US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification process, the building design will include the highest possible standards using LEED certification benchmarks to guide the decision making process relative to the systems and specifications that are ultimately established. Edwin McFarlane will be the project coordinator. Mr. McFarlane is chair of the Performing Arts Building Design Committee, which includes the president, faculty members and staff members. He has been with Reed since 1973 and worked on more than a dozen significant new buildings and renovation projects during that time. Townsend Angell, director of facilities operations, will be the project manager. Mr. Angell has worked on many construction projects since joining Reed in 1992, including the biology building renovation (2001) and the educational technology center (2002). The college’s board chair, Roger Perlmutter ‘73, has played a vital role in securing gifts for the project. Mr. Perlmutter became a trustee in 2004, and began his term as chair of the board in 2010-11. He is Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Amgen. Mr. Perlmutter has called trustees and traveled to meet with them one-on-one to discuss the project and obtain their support. His efforts, and those of President Colin Diver and Vice President for College Relations Hugh Porter, have created a core of leadership support for the project. The cost for the building without the proscenium theatre is $28,489,251. It will cost $316 per square foot to build. The fundraising goal for the building is $14 million. Reed will cover costs for the building beyond the $14 million fundraising goal with bonds and institutional funds. Reed’s current bond ratings are Aa2 from Moody’s and AA-/Stable from Standard and Poor’s. To date, Reed has obtained $9,809,659 in gifts and verbal and written pledges toward the $14 million fundraising goal. Trustees have committed $7,685,185 of this sum.