Large gifts helps UMKC toward downtown arts center goal

File photo.

UMKC is closing in on its goal of raising $48 million for a downtown arts campus. That news comes as the university announced a recent gift of $1.5 million from the David Beals Charitable Trust and two other recent $1 million gifts from anonymous donors.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City Foundation is raising money to support a planned downtown arts campus to house its Conservatory of Music and Dance and replace spread out and outdated classrooms.

With the new contributions, the foundation is $14 million away from its goal. UMKC needs to raise the $48 million in private funds by June of next year in order to ask the state for matching funds for the first phase of the project.

“The dream of having a downtown campus for our incredible Conservatory is one that I’ve long believed in,” said UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton in a news release. “It is extremely gratifying to know just how close we are to reaching the fundraising goal that can make that campus a reality. We are grateful to the David Beals Charitable Trust and the other generous donors who have given so much to help us get this far. I am more confident than ever that our dream will come true.”

David Beals, a lifelong resident of Kansas City, was a patron of the arts and established a charitable trust in 1982.