Brown University has announced a $25 million pledge from the Perelman Family Foundation to establish a district on the Providence campus to highlight the prominence of arts teaching, scholarship, and performance at the university.

The gift will create the Ronald O. Perelman Arts District at Brown University, which will encompass prominent performance spaces on its College Hill campus, as well as spaces dedicated to research, teaching, and training in the arts, including the List Art Building, the Literary Arts building, and the Lindemann Performing Arts Center. Scheduled to open in the fall of 2023, the center will be a hub for music, dance, theater, and multimedia arts. Markers identifying spaces within the Perelman Arts District will highlight places where artists are learning from and informing scholars and students in disciplines across the social sciences, sciences, and humanities, as well as demonstrate the university’s collective investment in the arts.

Chair and CEO of MacAndrews & Forbes Inc., Ronald O. Perelman is a Brown alumnus (’64), former university trustee, and the father of two Brown graduates. Perelman signed the Giving Pledge in 2010.

“The open-ended concept behind the arts district affirms the arts exist everywhere at Brown, and in fact, migrate wherever Brown’s artists go,” said Perelman. “The arts bring life to new ideas, foster a deep sense of collaboration and friendship, and form part of our nation’s soul. Brown uniquely understands the arts transcend individual spaces, and that they thrive when deeply woven throughout a wide community. I am so pleased to be able to support this extraordinary project that will be a beacon for arts and creativity for generations to come.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/tupungato)