WATERVILLE — Waterville Creates! recently received a $25,000 gift from Golden Pond Wealth Management in support of the community capital campaign for the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, according to a news release from Waterville Creates!.
Designed to bring together under one roof some of Waterville’s arts institutions, including the Maine Film Center, Common Street Arts, and a new gallery of the Colby Museum of Art, the Paul J. Schupf Art Center will be constructed on the current site of The Center building at 93 Main St., directly adjacent to the Waterville Opera House and City Hall building and downtown’s central green space, Castonguay Square.
Waterville Creates! and Colby College are partnering on this transformative project, which will create a distinctive hub for visual arts, performing arts, arts education, and film for children and adults. In addition to enhancing Waterville’s reputation as a destination for arts and culture, this new facility will add vitality to downtown Waterville during both the daytime and evening hours and serve as an economic driver for the region.
“Giving back to our community is one of our core values at Golden Pond Wealth Management, and we are particularly compelled to work with organizations that advance our collective cultural well-being,” said Brian Bernatchez, managing director of Golden Pond Wealth Management, according to the release.
“We are a major season sponsor of the Waterville Opera House because of its tremendous impact on our community, both culturally and economically, and we see the Paul J. Schupf Art Center as an incredible opportunity to further advance the arts in Waterville.” Golden Pond Wealth Management’s gift was pledged in support of the $2 million community capital campaign led by Waterville Creates! as part of the overall fundraising goal of $18 million for the project.
“Golden Pond Wealth Management has consistently been a strong supporter of the arts in our community, and we are thrilled by their generous support of this project,” said Shannon Haines, president and CEO of Waterville Creates!, according to the release. “The recent momentum that has been building for our community capital campaign has been due in large part to a business community that values and invests in the arts not only for the cultural enrichment they provide but for their power to drive a robust local economy.”
According to the Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 study published by Americans for the Arts in 2017, Waterville’s nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and their audiences generate more than $6 million in direct economic activity per year. Business Contributions to the Arts: 2018 Edition, a study by The Conference Board in conjunction with Americans for the Arts, revealed that 63% of companies believe the arts contribute to the economy of the community and 79% of companies believe arts help to improve quality of life in the community.
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