Reliance Properties’ donation largest ever for an arts-only university in Canada
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The Emily Carr University of Art and Design is the lucky recipient of a $7 million donation from Vancouver real estate developer Reliance Properties, it was announced Friday.
The gift is the largest financial donation ever given to Emily Carr University, and is the single largest donation ever made to an arts-only university in Canada.
The donation will help build the Libby Leshgold Gallery and the Reliance Lecture Theatre at Emily Carr’s new campus at Great Northern Way, and will help launch the university’s capital campaign, called The Big Idea.
“This gift demonstrates our shared belief in the transformative power of creativity, and it signals an historic moment,” says Dr. Ron Burnett, President and Vice Chancellor of Emily Carr University. “The arts and industry are coming into alignment – we are collaborating precisely at this intersection – where creativity and business innovation meet in service of community, culture and economy.”
Both the Reliance Lecture Theatre and the Libby Leshgold Gallery will facilitate events, programs, and exhibitions that serve to enhance academic curriculum by facilitating collaborations from local, national, and international visionaries.
“Like Reliance Properties, Emily Carr is growing because they take a creative and transformative approach to building their legacy,” says Jon Stovell, President of Reliance Properties. “Both organizations accomplish big things that others their size might not because they courageously challenge themselves to think more creatively. It’s this emphasis on the value of creativity that sets this institution and their graduates apart.”
The Big Idea capital campaign, which was also launched Friday, will raise $25 million for Emily Carr University to build a new state-of-the-art campus for 21st century learning in art, design and media at Great Northern Way.
Copyright Vancouver Westender 2014