Lesley University has received nearly $7 million from an anonymous donor, one of the most significant gifts in our 108-year history. The $6,864,387 gift will expand our College of Art and Design's digitally based curriculum in animation, digital filmmaking, illustration and graphic design.
This anonymous gift will fund the construction of new studios, a 140-seat screening room and other spaces for programs in animation, digital filmmaking, illustration and other digital media. As a result, the gift will help make the College of Art and Design the only New England art school to expand into these fields using visual effects (VFX).
A College of Art and Design filmmaker sets up a shot.
Marylou Batt, vice president for operations and administration, says the expansion includes the addition of about 11,000 square feet of new teaching and academic space in 1815 Massachusetts Ave. (University Hall). The building is adjacent to the LEED Gold-certified Lunder Arts Center, which opened in 2015. "Construction of this state-of-the art facility will begin later this fall and the university anticipates opening the new Digital Animation Center in late spring of 2018," Batt adds.
The gift is the latest milestone in the 105-year legacy of our College of Art and Design. Founded in 1912 as the School of Practical Art, it later expanded into the Art Institute of Boston, joined Lesley in 1998, and received its current name in 2013.
The new construction is another hallmark of Lesley's competitive advantage, which Zauft alluded to back in 2015, at the grand opening of the Lunder Arts Center. Then, he noted that there are 42 independent colleges of art and design in the country, but none of them is part of a university that has a sister college of liberal arts, as Lesley does, where art students can also study business, foreign languages, education, and much more.
Lesley Board of Trustees Chair Hans Strauch agrees that this latest milestone fits perfectly with our mission and strategy.
"This transformative gift demonstrates the appeal of Lesley University's mission, supports the growth of our College of Art and Design, and helps advance our efforts to infuse the arts in all academic disciplines," Strauch says.