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Courtesy / University of Southern Maine Foundation
The University of Southern Maine’s Center for the Arts is still in the planning stage. Seen here is a rendering of the north exterior.
The University of Southern Maine has received one of its largest cash gifts ever with the donation of $5 million to support construction of an arts center on the school's Portland campus.
The gift is also the largest ever by the Crewe Foundation, the Cumberland Foreside-based philanthropy of legendary pop songwriter, singer and record producer Bob Crewe. Crewe died seven years ago in Scarborough after a career that included creating dozens of chart-topping hits, ranging from "Rag Doll" to "Lady Marmalade," and was depicted in the 2005 Broadway musical "Jersey Boys."
The center is a "decades-long dream" of the university, USM said in a news release Tuesday. The gift will provide a state-of-the-art, purpose-built home for the visual arts and the new home for the university’s School of Music, which will move both its academic and performance programs from the Gorham campus.
Dan Crewe, brother and former business manager of Bob Crewe, is co-founder of the Crewe Foundation. He has been a champion of the music school since he first attended a performance there 30 years ago.
“I came to Maine in 1991 as this rock and roll hotshot from California and was blown away by the first performance I saw at the Gorham campus,” Crewe said in the release. “The students in the music program have done so well with what they have, even though it was not a space designed with performance in mind, and they deserve a facility that will do justice to their talent.”
Founded in 2009, the Crewe Foundation was created by Dan and Bob Crewe to support the arts and LGBTQ communities in Maine. It was Bob Crewe’s wish that the foundation support the fine arts and music by empowering aspiring artists and underserved youth to pursue, develop and realize their talents and goals. Today, the foundation is co-led by Dan Crewe and his daughter, Reid Crewe.
The venue would feature flexible spaces for visual art exhibits and performing arts events for students, visiting artists and audiences, including a 200-seat recital hall, rehearsal rooms and learning studios.
The project is still in the early planning stages, and all University of Maine System construction projects must receive authorization from UMS trustees before breaking ground. The project must also go through a permitting process with the city of Portland.
But if fundraising momentum continues, the project could break ground as early as spring 2023, according to the release. The center would be the “crown jewel” of a larger master plan for the Portland campus, USM said. The plan includes the $99.4 million development of a 580-bed Portland Commons Residence Hall, a Career and Student Success Center and a one-acre campus green.
“The vision of a Center for the Arts on the Portland campus takes a major leap forward with this pacesetting gift from the Crewe Foundation,” said University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy.
Construction of the facility will contribute “to a thriving arts scene that attracts visitors and jobs to the region,” he added.
The School of Music is currently at the university’s Gorham campus in a 140-year-old building, Corthell Hall. The building wasn’t designed for music. The absence of sound isolation, lack of an elevator to move large equipment, and a performance space too small for larger ensembles are considered serious inadequacies, according to USM.
The university said goals for the new center include:
• Grow enrollment in School of Music programs from 150 students today to more than 250
• Establish a home for the Kate Cheney Chappell ’83 Center for Book Arts, founded by an alumna and book artist
• Provide flexible, innovative spaces for learning, creating, performing and showcasing the talents of students, faculty and the wider community
• Expand opportunities for year-round programming and exhibitions, partnering with schools, museums and arts organizations throughout. Maine
• Create an architecturally striking building that is a welcoming gateway to the Portland campus
The USM School of Music, established in the 1960s, offers 14 degree and certificate programs and is home to at least 12 performance ensembles every semester including orchestra, band, vocal and jazz. It’s considered one of the university’s signature programs “and it is also one of our best kept secrets,” said USM President Glenn Cummings. “This gift from the Crewe Foundation will help us change that.”
Graduates have won Grammy Awards, performed at New York City's Metropolitan Opera, attracted hundreds of thousands of followers on YouTube as music educators and influencers, and served in national music ensembles. Alumni have won the Maine Outstanding New Music Educator of the Year Award every year for the past five years.
“When you have something excellent you can’t help but become a proponent,” said Dan Crewe. “I’ve long wanted to see this happen and now is the right time.”
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