Reading PA– Reading Area Community College’s Miller Center for the Arts is pleased to announce that it has received a $200,000 grant from Raynier Institute & Foundation.
The Raynier grant supports the Center’s “Project Revamp!” which aims to replace worn production equipment with new systems that better meet the needs of the artists it presents and those renting the facility, and refresh programming through the addition of longer, in-depth community outreach residencies with high-profile artists and explore new multi-media program genres.
“We are honored and excited to be chosen as a funded organization by the Raynier Institute & Foundation,” says Cathleen Stephen, Miller Center Director. “The project is designed to take place over four years and will help the Miller Center maintain a state-of-the art facility, strengthen community partnerships, provide accessibility to and greater knowledge and appreciation of the arts to disadvantaged populations in greater Reading, revitalize downtown Reading economically and creatively through increased opportunities for artists and businesses offering support services and help the Center become the ‘go-to’ place for current, profound and informative programming.”
In the 1990’s, James Widener Ray opened Eagle Eye Gallery in Seattle to provide a venue for budding artists. This led him to formalize his role as a patron of the arts and to explore a new role of philanthropist by founding the Raynier Institute & Foundation to support non-profit organizations serving the areas of animal welfare, arts and culture, education, the environment, and healthcare and human services.
Since 1994, Raynier Institute & Foundation has awarded over $18 million to non-profit organizations, primarily in the areas around Seattle, WA and Philadelphia, PA. Other Berks County organizations that have received funding from Raynier include the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts and Reading Public Museum.
For information about the Miller Center and its programs, please visit millercenter.racc.edu.
