Leveraging a $150 million gift from The Bill Gatton Foundation, UK is set to construct a new arts center on the western edge of campus, including a new College of Fine Arts building and a several-hundred seat theatre.
"Like other districts on this campus — agricultural, research, medical — it is time for the talent of the arts to have a state-of-the-art home," UK President Eli Capilouto said Tuesday. "A home worthy of their power, a district where creativity can breathe and talent can flourish, a place to unlock and unleash the individual and shared creativity so shared in our midst."
The plans also feature a pavilion, with a park that will connect several blocks on and near South Broadway and Bolivar Street, near UK’s existing School of Arts and Visual Studies Building and a short walk from the city’s Gatton Park at Town Branch.
The announcement did not include a timeline for when the school aims to complete the arts district.
More information about the gift and the initiative can be found at pres.uky.edu/bill-gatton-foundations-historic-gift.