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Nancy Hamon Contributes $10 Million to Dallas Center for the Performing Arts New Performance Space in the Center to be Named In Recognition of the Gift DALLAS (January 22, 2008) – The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts announced today that it has received a $10 million contribution from Dallas philanthropist Nancy Hamon. In recognition of this gift, a new performance space in the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House will be named in her honor: the Nancy Hamon Education and Recital Hall. Mrs. Hamon’s gift brings the total raised for the capital campaign to more than $277 million, surpassing the Center’s initial $275 million goal. The new gift allows for enhancements to the Winspear Opera House, upgrading what would have been a basic rehearsal space into an education and recital hall, with acoustical and theatrical systems and improvements to the interior finishes of the space. The Nancy Hamon Education and Recital Hall can be used concurrently with the Margaret McDermott Performance Hall, the building’s 2,200-seat concert hall, for small recitals with audiences up to 200, as well education classes, rehearsals, private meetings and receptions. The new design will be overseen by the architects of the Winspear Opera House: Foster + Partners, under the direction of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster. “More than seven years into this campaign, we continue to receive remarkable gifts from some of Dallas’ most distinguished philanthropists and patrons of the arts, like Nancy Hamon,” said Bill Lively, president and CEO of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. “The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts has captured the imagination of the people of Dallas, and they have responded with a level of generosity never before seen for a project of this kind in our city. We expect to continue the momentum of this campaign through the opening of the Center, less than two years from now.” The Hamon gift is the fourth $10 million contribution to the campaign, following $10 million contributions from Mrs. Eugene McDermott and the Eugene McDermott Foundation, Deedie and Rusty Rose and an anonymous donor. The largest gift to the campaign came in 2002—a $42 million contribution from Margot and Bill Winspear—at the time, the largest single gift in the history of Dallas. In 2004, Dee and Charles Wyly and Sam and Cheryl Wyly gave $20 million to the campaign. “The arts have always been an important part of my life,” said Nancy Hamon. “The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts will create so many opportunities for people in Dallas to experience the arts and to learn about the arts. I’m especially proud to have my name associated with the Education and Recital Hall, which will be used to help educate aspiring performing artists for generations to come.” A Texas native, Nancy Hamon had a brief career as an actress and dancer in Hollywood, appearing in dance lines in films such as “The Heat Is On.” In 1949, she returned to Texas as the wife of Dallas oilman Jake Hamon, who passed away in 1985. Since then, Mrs. Hamon has been a major contributor to medical, educational, humanitarian and cultural institutions. In the Dallas Arts District alone, her contributions have ranged from $10 million to the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in 2004 and a $20 million gift to the Dallas Museum of Art for a major expansion in 1988. She has also contributed $25 million to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for biomedical research. “Nancy Hamon’s generosity can be felt in every corner of our city,” said Caren Prothro, vice chair of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Board of Directors. “With this $10 million gift in support of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, Nancy Hamon has committed a total of more than $40 million to organizations in the Dallas Arts District, a remarkable investment towards the completion of the district. The Nancy Hamon Education and Recital Hall will serve to remind us of one of Dallas’ greatest philanthropists with a passion for the arts.” Currently under construction in the Dallas Arts District, the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is the most significant new performing arts center since New York City’s Lincoln Center. In addition to the Winspear Opera House, the Center will also include the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, Annette Strauss Artist Square, City Performance Hall and Performance Park, the 10-acre park that unifies the venues. Opening in fall 2009, the Center will provide state-of-the-art performance spaces for resident companies The Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center, Texas Ballet Theater, Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico. TITAS, the Dallas presenter of the world’s most highly acclaimed touring music and dance companies, will also present its season at the Center. In addition, the Center will present a Broadway series, the Brinker International Forum, concerts, lectures, films and many other programs. About the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts: The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, a new multi-venue Center for music, opera, theatre and dance will open in 2009, completing the 25-year vision of the Dallas Arts District. The Center will provide multi-state-of-the-art facilities woven together by an urban park covering more than ten acres to create a dynamic cultural destination that will be unparalleled in the world. The Center will feature the following:
More information on the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is available at www.dallasperformingarts.org. ### Contacts:Maria May
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