Donor gives $5 million toward new art center

FARMINGTON – An anonymous donor has contributed $5 million toward construction of a new community arts center at the University of Maine at Farmington.

Trustees of the university system formally accepted the gift Monday at their regular meeting in Orono.

The donor asked that the building and its programs be named for retired UMF administrator Ted Emery and his late wife, Marguerite, who was a music teacher at the school.

“This is an incredibly generous gift to the people of western Maine,” UMF President Theodora Kalikow said. “This donation will allow the arts to grow in ways we’ve only dreamed of.”

The proposal includes an 800-seat concert hall and theater, a studio theater, multipurpose performance and rehearsal space, dance studio, classroom space, community art gallery, meeting and teaching rooms and office space. All would be contained within a 56,000-square-foot building.