The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees on Tuesday accepted a $150 million gift from the Gatton Foundation.
The donation will establish a university arts district, and is the largest ever received by UK.
UK President Eli Capilouto said the arts were very important to Bill Gatton, a Kentucky businessman and UK alumnus who died in 2022 at age 89.
“It is time for the talent of the arts to have a state of the art home, a home worthy of their power, a district where creativity can breathe and talent can flourish.”
The year after Gatton’s death, his foundation gave $100 million to the UK School of Food, Agriculture and Environment. It was then the largest single donation to the university.
The latest project includes a new College of Fine Arts building, a theater that can seat an audience of several hundred and a park connecting the campus to downtown Lexington.
Currently, the school is on Rose Street, between the Singletary Center and Maxwell Place, the university president’s residence. Under the plan, it would move to the opposite side of campus, between South Limestone and South Broadway.
Noting that UK has developed spaces for research, health, business and athletics, Capilouto said the arts needed one where the arts could shine.
“We can prepare students for careers in far flung and divergent fields that require deep knowledge or refined technical skills. But the arts, the arts do something else.”
