$1-Million Gift Is a Class Act : Boost for Arts at Cal State Fullerton Helps Off Campus Too

Cal State Fullerton has more than 20,000 students and a staff of 3,000, but its largest arts facility seats only 500. It is aptly called the Little Theatre.

But last month the school received good news with the announcement that the Leo Freedman Foundation has awarded it a $1-million cash grant to help build a campus performing arts complex.

Foundation trustees and the university commendably pledged to use the new complex not just for arts education of students but also to serve the nearby community.

The Freedman Foundation already has given $6 million to Orange County cultural organizations since 1991, including grants to the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa and the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana. Both institutions are important to the county’s cultural life; an expanded program of drama, dance and music at Cal State Fullerton would be a welcome addition.

The $1 million is the largest cash grant in the college’s history. The money can help finance the school’s worthwhile plans for a $30-million complex that includes a 1,200-seat auditorium, dance studios, rehearsal halls and facilities for students studying costume design and construction of theater sets. College officials said the bulk of the complex would be financed by bonds for educational facilities to be approved by voters.

Jerry Samuelson, dean of the school of arts, said the objective was a “first-rate performance facility for the entire county,” but especially for northern Orange County, which he said has long gone without a new performing arts theater. Colleges and universities need to reach out to surrounding communities, drawing energy from those off campus and sharing their academic treasures, resources and latest intellectual discoveries.

Cal State campuses in Los Angeles and Long Beach recently have built 1,200-seat auditoriums, a size approved several years ago by the California State University trustees. Adding other buildings should also bring welcome relief to Cal State Fullerton acting students, who in the absence of rehearsal space are forced to remove chairs from a classroom for evening rehearsals and replace them when they are finished.