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Drama Building Expansion Project
by Tom Bloom, Chair, Associate Professor, Scenic Design
tab4p@virginia.edu

Tom Bloom

May 20.  The Class of 2007 - the 83rd group of students who have studied and practiced theatre at the University of Virginia - left the building today.  Parents and students attending Drama’s Diploma Ceremony processed to and from the Drama building through a passage defined by cyclone fencing, behind which are two construction sites.  I thought you might enjoy seeing what’s happening around our building, so I asked one of our graduate Technical Direction students, Kyle Gettelman, to take pictures of the transformations underway.  Many of you, no doubt, will look for familiar landmarks that are now cleared away by excavation and construction. Some also may note that the ancient and stately oak that stood in front of the Drama building is missing; although not a casualty of construction, it sadly fell over one fall morning of its own accord (see Fall 2006 newsletter).

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The images shown here are of the Ruffin Hall building site and the Arts Grounds parking structure.  Ruffin Hall, scheduled to open July of 2008, will become the home of the Studio Art Department and is planted in what used to be the main parking lot to the east of the Culbreth Theatre. The Arts Grounds parking structure, located to the north of our building, is scheduled to open in February 2008 and will accommodate 550 vehicles.

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While all of this exciting construction is going on around our building, we are actively seeking financial support for our own planned building expansion. The Drama Building, which now is more than thirty years old, is bulging at the seams. The rapid growth of media technologies in performance and design and the recent curricular addition of a minor in Dance have consumed every available space in the building. Dance will finally have a place to call home when the Drama building expansion is completed. Since 1974, the date when Drama moved from Minor Hall to its present location, Dance has long searched for its own space in which to grow and flourish.

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You may have previously read about Mort and Ruth Caplin’s generous gift commitment of $4 million to help lead the way for the expansion project. In honor of this wonderful gift the University will name the project’s centerpiece, a 300 seat thrust theatre, The Ruth Caplin Theatre.  Additional lead gifts of $1 million and above for the building expansion have been committed by the William Stamps Farish Fund, Sandy Miller (’71 Drama), and from the Arts Grounds Challenge Fund made by an anonymous donor.

Additional gifts are needed to achieve our current fund-raising goal of $28 million.  There is a sense of urgency driving us toward this goal, as inflation and other market forces are affecting the inflationary cost of building renovations and construction quite dramatically.  If we are able to start the Drama expansion in 2007, our fund-raising requirement is $28 million.  Delays in meeting the target this year are projected to increase the cost of the expansion to $38 million by 2014.

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We look forward to the day when, on a given evening, there could be a dance event in the Ruth Caplin Theatre, a musical on the Culbreth stage, and a student written and directed play in the Helms Theatre.  With the Arts Grounds parking garage just footsteps away from these theatres, the expanded Drama facility will become the most accessible arts venue in the area.

Please consider contributing to the Drama Building expansion project.  While there is strength in dollars raised, there is also strength in the numbers of donors.  Your support is important to the future of the Department and to the future of the Arts at Virginia.  Today’s students, like their predecessors, are preparing to shape and lead the future of the Arts on a local, regional, national, and increasingly international level.  The facilities in which they learn are critical to their success.   We are turning to those who know us best – alumni, parents, and friends – to help the Department and our students achieve our potential, and are asking you to make Drama and our expansion one of your philanthropic priorities.

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This is an exciting time of growth for all of the arts at UVa. Completion of the Drama expansion, along with the other buildings included in the Arts Grounds, will deliver a powerful message to prospective students.  It will be a tangible expression of the University’s commitment to offering superb programs in the theatre arts, dance, and integrated media arts, and to providing an environment in which creative young women and men will grow and thrive. Completing the elements of this plan will ensure that the arts hold a prominent place in the University experience, allowing students to make the arts not only a part of their coursework but also a part of their lives.

We are proud of our graduates and their (your) many accomplishments.  Thank you for all that you do to support our efforts.

Best regards,
Tom

For more information or to make a gift, please contact Tom Jennings, Senior Development Officer for Special Projects, Office of Development and Public Affairs, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400807, Charlottesville, VA, 22904-4807 
Phone (434) 924-6880.  Email: tjennings@virginia.edu. 

To make a gift on-line, go to www.virginia.edu/supportuva/giveCC_step1.php and be sure to indicate in the "other" space provided that your gift is for the Drama building expansion.

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