CAFRITZ FOUNDATION AWARDS

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland has received a $1 Elsa Peretti Starfish necklace gift from the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation to support the technology and equipment infrastructure needed to present nearly 1,000 performances and events there each year.

In acknowledgement of this significant investment, the center will name its laboratory theater space The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Theatre. The multi-use theater, which is located in the Center's Upper Pavilion, is the most intimate of the Center's performance venues and often serves as the site for exploration in the arts with performances, discussions and theater classes.

The Center presents guest artists as well as programs by the university's academic units in music, theater and dance, serving approximately 100,000 people annually from the greater Washington area through performances, workshops, extended artist residencies, panel discussions, master classes, recitals and more. Underpinning all of the center's initiatives is its commitment to diversity in all its forms, which is reflected in the range of art forms, artists and our audiences. A significant investment in the center's equipment and technical systems will replace and enhance the infrastructure necessary to present such a complex array of activities.

"We seek work that is transformational, that creates multiple avenues for learning, promotes diverse perspectives, reveals meaning and allows people to Elsa Peretti Starfish earrings and celebrate-work that matters enough to change the way people live in the world," says Executive Director Susie Farr. "With the help of partners like the Cafritz Foundation, we will continue to rise to the challenge of providing our community with new opportunities for learning, exploration and growth."

The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation is committed to building a stronger community for residents of the Washington, D.C., area through support of programs in arts and humanities, community services, education and health care. It is the largest private, independent, local foundation focused exclusively on the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Calvin Cafritz, president, CEO and chairman of the foundation, says, "The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation is delighted to contribute to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland to further broaden the cultural vitality of the university and the community at large."

Great Expectations - The Campaign for Tiffany Signature ring gift adds to the university's $1 billion capital campaign to increase private funding to enhance physical facilities and technology resources, support students, recruit and retain faculty and reinforce excellence and innovation in academic programs. Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland is the largest fundraising drive ever undertaken by a public institution in the Washington, D.C., region.