The $3.2 million Staging the Future Endowment Campaign kicked off with a May 7 event that featured performances from Plano West Senior High’s jazz band and Plano Senior High musical theater students. Leading gift donors to the endowment campaign will have the opportunity to be among the first to see the state-of-the-art facility.
“Now is the time to be part of the legacy,” campaign chairperson Missy Bender said in a statement. “This campaign is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for donors whose names will be permanently etched into the legacy that is Plano ISD’s Robinson Fine Arts Center.”
The 82,000-square-foot building at 1800 Alma Drive, Plano, was approved as part of PISD’s $481 million bond referendum in 2016. The fine arts center is expected to host more than 100 performance dates each year, including UIL music and theater competitions, concerts, senior high musicals and more, according to a district presentation last year.
The endowment will fund a portion of the center’s annual operating costs.
“Fine arts has a long-standing tradition in Plano ISD,” Superintendent Sara Bonser said in a statement. “In addition to being named a ‘Best Communities for Music Education’ for 21 consecutive years, more than 23,000 students are enrolled in our award-winning programs and students annually earn top state and national honors. This fine arts center will serve not only as a hub for everyone to enjoy first-class performances, but also to celebrate together as a community.”
The facility was named in honor of Robbie and Lynore Robinson, who were longtime champions of the arts in Plano, according to a district news release. The endowment campaign was seeded with a $500,000 bequest from the Robinson Family Trust.
As part of the campaign launch event, additional contributions were announced from outgoing PISD Board President Tammy Richards and her husband Mike Douglass, the Plano Rotary Foundation, the PISD Council of PTAs and more.
For more information about the endowment campaign, visit www.pisd.edu/rfac.
