Waterville, Maine — The Harold Alfond Foundation is providing a $6 million challenge grant in support of the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, a collaborative project between Waterville Creates! and Colby College.
For every dollar contributed to Waterville Creates’ community capital campaign, both past and future, the Harold Alfond Foundation will provide $3 in matching funds. When the community capital campaign crosses the $1 million mark, the Foundation will commit another $3 million toward the total project cost of $18 million.
Waterville Creates! has already raised $680,000 in gifts and pledges from a diverse group of businesses, foundations, and individuals, and needs the community’s support to raise the remaining $320,000 that will unlock $6 million in support from the Harold Alfond Foundation.
“The Harold Alfond Foundation is proud to support Waterville Creates! and its partnership with Colby College to develop the Paul J. Schupf Art Center,” says Chairman Greg Powell. “The community has already stepped up in a major way to support the capital campaign, and we hope that this challenge grant will provide extra incentive for businesses and individuals alike to contribute to this incredible project, which we believe will be a cornerstone of Waterville’s downtown revitalization.”
This grant is part of the Foundation’s more than $500 million investment in Maine people and institutions to help grow the state’s workforce and economy and support quality health care and builds on a long-standing commitment from the Foundation to help the people of Maine thrive from birth through career. Learn more at https://www.haroldalfondfoundation.org/.
“The Harold Alfond Foundation’s investment in Waterville Creates! has enabled us to strengthen the long-standing, beloved arts organizations that have been a core part of Waterville’s identity for decades by developing a new model for collaboration. The Paul J. Schupf Art Center will be the physical embodiment of that collaboration. By bringing Waterville’s arts organizations together under one roof in the heart of downtown, the Paul J. Schupf Art Center will showcase our diverse arts programming and create new opportunities for collaboration and creative expression,” says Shannon Haines, President + CEO of Waterville Creates!
“There has never been a building like the Paul J. Schupf Art Center in Waterville. This project will have a major economic impact on the entire region and will ensure that our community will have access to outstanding arts opportunities for generations to come. Thanks to the Harold Alfond Foundation’s commitment to excellence in the arts both on Main Street and at Colby College, Waterville is poised to become a premier arts destination,” says James LaLiberty, Board Chair at Waterville Creates!
About Waterville Creates!
Waterville Creates! connects artists, organizations, and the public with arts and cultural events and programs happening in our community. Supporting and promoting arts education, exhibitions, theatre, film, music, and dance that is accessible to all, Waterville Creates! is leading the effort to make Waterville an exciting cultural destination and a thriving, vibrant community. For more information about the ongoing community capital campaign for the Paul J. Schupf Art Center visit www.downtownartscenter.org