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The Ahart Family Arts Plaza, located between the Williams Visual Arts Building and the future home of Lafayette’s theater program on North Third Street, was dedicated June 8 during Reunion.
The plaza is named in honor of Edward W. Ahart ’69, chair of the Board of Trustees, and Catherine Ahart P’97 ’03 in recognition of their commitment to the development of the Williams Arts Campus and in tribute to the family’s devotion to the College over several decades. Cathy is an active and enthusiastic partner and participant in service to Lafayette, and the family members are benefactors of the College’s Ahart Family Scholarship Fund.
Their daughters, Amy ’97 and Alison ’03, married to Thomas DiGiovanni ’96 and Shaw Williams ’03, gave special remarks during the event. Gary A. Evans ’57, trustee emeritus, and President Daniel H. Weiss also spoke.
The plaza received a Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Commercial Real Estate Development Award last year. In 2010, it was one of several architectural projects selected to represent the United States in the prestigious Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space.
The plaza is part of the Williams Arts Campus, which will also include Lafayette’s film & media studies and theater programs with a black box theater, state-of-the-art film theater, sound stage, costume and scene shop, rehearsal studio, and high-tech media and teaching lab.
4 Comments
Ed Ahart’s contribution toward the Willams Art Center is an important part of building a presence in the Arts. I just saw the Tony Awards on Television, and imagined a time when more Lafayette grads would be recognized for acting. The stage productions were excellent and someday, Lafayette will be contributing heavily to all of these forms of entertainment. Who can forget the political role of “The Fool” in Shakespeare. One old award winner at the “Tonys” proclaimed, “We speak to their faces!”, concerning the impact of plays on the powerful. The Ahart family has done a good deed toward that end.
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