Windgate Foundation Awards $9.49 Million to Support Arkansas State University

JONESBORO – The Windgate Foundation has awarded new grants totaling $9.49 million for scholarships, arts education initiatives and community outreach at Arkansas State University, according to an announcement by Chancellor Todd Shields. This funding follows major gifts over the past nine years from Windgate, which has established a record of generosity in supporting educational growth at Arkansas State.

In response to proposals from the university, the Windgate Foundation's board of directors approved:

• An investment of $5.2 million to expand need-based scholarships at A-State.
• A grant of $3.1 million designated to support the director position at the Bradbury Art Museum (BAM), along with BAM's operating costs, additional storage space and facility improvements.
• A grant of $1.19 million designated for programs, equipment and materials for the Windgate Center of Art + Design, which opened at A-State in September 2021.

"We are deeply grateful to the Windgate Foundation for its continued trust and investment in Arkansas State University," Chancellor Shields said. "Their belief in the power of education and the arts continues to create lasting change on our campus, across the state and in the lives of our students."

A representative of the foundation spoke about the board's intent in supporting A-State. "The donors of the Windgate Foundation have long been supporters of Arkansas State University. Their wish is to establish permanent endowments that will continue to help the institution's needs long after they are gone," said Pat Forgy, executive director of the Windgate Foundation, in a letter to university officials. "We are proud to be one of your supporters, and we look forward to hearing about your future successes and achievements."

The Windgate Foundation has made numerous major grants to the university. In December 2021, the university announced a $25 million grant from Windgate, the largest single gift in the university's history, to support the construction of a new facility that the Board of Trustees named the Windgate Art + Innovation Building. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in September of last year, and the steel structure was recently "topped out."

"Scholarships change lives. Art inspires purpose. Windgate's visionary generosity has combined these ideals in a way that defines what higher education should be," said Dr. Brendan Kelly, ASU System President.

In September 2018, the Windgate Foundation awarded $6.7 million to the university to build a new arts facility for sculpture and ceramics. The Board of Trustees voted to name the facility the Windgate Center of Art + Design. The grant for that facility was revealed in a surprise announcement during the dedication of the Windgate Gallery within the Bradbury Art Museum, an exhibition space named in recognition of an earlier grant from the foundation. The Windgate Center of Art + Design was completed in 2021, followed by a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony that September.

Back in 2016, grants from the Windgate Foundation to the Bradbury Art Museum supported need-based scholarships and BAM's outreach mission of expanding its educational activities and experiences to audiences who might not otherwise have access to the arts.

About the Windgate Foundation Established in 1993 and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Windgate Foundation is a private foundation whose purpose is to promote contemporary craft and strengthen visual arts education in the United States. The foundation also supports children and youth in the State of Arkansas. Learn more at: windgatefoundation.org