Applause! Campaign Raises Money for Center for the Arts - WMBB News 13 - The Panhandle's News Leader

The brand new Center for the Arts at Chipola College is nearly complete. Now, through a fundraising campaign called 'Applause!', the school is hoping to raise three million dollars to enrich, enhance and experience the arts.

Trey McKay is a performing arts student at the college. He says, "Every time I walk in, it's just really cool feeling. And you get really excited about it, and you cant wait till next year and what we are doing next year."

The brand new 56 thousand square foot facility will have a main theater that seats over 650 people, a black box theater, a dance studio, an art gallery and much more.

Pete Smith works in the technical realm of performing arts. He says,"Everything is brand new, top of the line. It will give us real world experience."

Now through the Applause! Campaign, the school is asking for community members to get involved.

There are three types of investments you can make: Be Seated. Be a Star. and Legacy Initiative, allowing others to feel connected to the new facility.

Daniel Powell is the Associate Dean of the Center for Performing Arts. He says, "I'm hoping this fundraising campaign will involve the community in a way that helps us be more integrated in the community and help with programming and promotion of our college and our department."

The 16 million dollar project began construction in Summer of 2010, and is expected to be open before this coming fall

For more information on how to contribute to the campaign visit: http://www.chipola.edu/Center-for-the-Arts/index.htm