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| Steel beams for the new roof over the west wing being lowered into the Mackintosh Building |
- Largest grant to a non science project in Scotland in the last five years
- Donation brings to £18.5M the sum raised towards the £32M Appeal
The Wolfson Foundation has donated £450,000 to the Mackintosh Campus Appeal it was announced today, 19 December 2016. The donation is the largest made by the Foundation to a non science project in Scotland in the last five years.
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, says: “The Mackintosh Building is internationally renowned as a masterpiece of 20th century architecture at the heart of the Glasgow School of Art. We were impressed not only by the bravery, ambition and energy with which the School has responded to the traumatic events of May 2014, but also by the sensitivity with which this restoration has been conceived – not in isolation, but as part of a wider strategic vision for the School’s future. We are delighted to be supporting this important regeneration project, and helping to revitalise an outstanding building in the city of our founder’s birth.”
“We are hugely grateful to the Wolfson Foundation for this generous donation,” says Prof Tom Inns, Director of The Glasgow School of Art. “The donation brings to £18.5M the monies raised towards our £32M Mackintosh Campus Appeal which will enable us to deliver our ambitious development plans for the Garnethill campus.”
The Mackintosh Campus Appeal is supporting the delivery of an £80m development of the GSA’s Garnethill Campus which will see the restoration of the west wing and upgrade of the east wing of The Mackintosh Building along with the purchase and conversion of the former Stow College building. The Mackintosh Building will return to its original academic configuration as a home for all first year students and the specially converted Stow building will bring together all pathways in the School of Fine Art for the first time in decades.
The announcement of the Wolfson Foundation’s donation was made as work continued to remove the stone piers in the library of the Mackintosh Building and the conversion of the Stow building got under way.
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Further information
Lesley Booth
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Notes for Editors
- Over the last 10 years the GSA has undertaken phased developments of the campus in Garnethill, refurbishing some buildings, replacing others that were no longer fit for purpose and constructing the Reid Building.
- · The current phase of the campus development will help the GSA achieve its academic aspiration to become a global leader in studio-based learning and research, provide the space to accommodate a 25% increase in student numbers by 2018 (much of which has already been achieved) and provide space for potential future growth.”
- Honorary Patron and Trustees of the Mackintosh Campus Appeal are:
Honorary Patron: The Rt Hon The Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden KT
Trustees: Peter Capaldi, Kelly Cooper-Barr, Dr Kenneth Chrystie, Bob Downes
Ken Ross OBE (Chair), Bryan Ferry CBE, Dr Muriel Gray, Prof Tom Inns
Douglas Kinnaird, Brad Pitt and MT Rainey.
- The Wolfson Foundation (www.wolfson.org.uk) is an independent charity that supports and promotes excellence in the fields of science, health, education and the arts and humanities
- Over £800 million (£1.7 billion in real terms) has been awarded to more than 10,000 projects throughout the UK, all on the basis of expert review
- Established by Glasgow-born Sir Isaac Wolfson, the Wolfson Foundation celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2015