Sondra Lomax
Executive Director and Assistant Dean for Development
As we move into the new academic year and under new leadership, the College of Fine Arts continues to raise the bar on excellence in 21st century arts education. To make this possible, we have maintained a robust fundraising operation during the pandemic with great help from members of our Advisory Council.
For academic year 2020-2021, the College of Fine Arts received over $12 million in gifts and pledges. This accomplishment is the result of dedicated efforts by Advisory Council members, chairs and directors, development staff, alumni, and friends. To each of you, I extend my heartfelt thanks on behalf of the College of Fine Arts students, faculty, and staff.
Most of this $12 million is restricted, meaning that funds are designated to specific endowments or purposes. Some are planned gifts that will provide us with transformational funding in the future. But all of these gifts share a common bond: they help the college in its pursuit of excellence so that we can continue to provide the best arts education and creative research opportunities for our students.
And this year’s fundraising is off to a great start: Since September 1, 2021, the college has raised over $9.3 million! Our goal for this fiscal year is $15 million, and we are well on our way to achieving, if not, exceeding that goal. With your help, we will make it a banner year!
One of our top fundraising priorities remains student support across the college, whether it be undergraduate or graduate scholarships, internships, or funds for our satellite programs, UTNY and UTLA. Our goal is to make COFA financially accessible for the brightest students in Texas and beyond, offering the most scholarship help that we can, so that our students can enjoy the best educational opportunities available and graduate with the least amount of student loan debt.
Another key priority is funding for innovation in research and creative practice. Support for creative innovation funds will fund faculty research as well as co-commission and co-production projects between our academic and our presenting units, and in collaboration with other leading platforms for arts research and creation across the globe, including industry partners.
As we anticipate the launch of the university-wide comprehensive “What Starts Here” campaign in March 2022, we are already ahead of our “silent phase” $90 million goal. The “silent phase” counts funding raised for COFA since September 2016. You will be hearing more about the “What Starts Here” campaign in the months ahead.
As we continue to build and sustain COFA, we are moving aggressively with our fundraising initiatives across the college. Each gift to the College has the potential to help transform lives, whether it enables a student to view great works of art, study with renowned musicians, or create a role in a theatrical production. And please remember, every gift counts, no matter the size!
To achieve our goals, our hope is that each and every Advisory Council member will find a project with which to become involved, and that you will work with the dean and me, and with our chairs, directors, faculty and staff, to keep the College of Fine Arts at the forefront of arts programs nationally. With your help, we will succeed!
In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me, or members of my staff, if we can assist with questions or projects. And once again, thank you for your support of the College of Fine Arts!
COFA Development Fast Facts
Fiscal Year 2020-2021
Total Raised for COFA: | $12,012,372 |
Student Support: | $4,352,496 |
Faculty Support: | $1,100,345 |
Program Support: | $6,066,204 |
Facilities Support: | $493,354 |
New Endowments Created: 15
COFA’s Endowment Totals = $228 Million
Number of Endowments: | 497 |
Student Support: | 326 |
Faculty Support: | 79 |
Program Support: | 92 |
“What Starts Here” Capital Campaign Progress (2016 to present): $94 Million
2021-2022 Year-to-Date Fundraising Total: $9.3 Million