Foundations Green Light LMU Outdoor Performance Stage
Thanks to two of LMU’s longstanding and generous supporters, the Drollinger Family Charitable Foundation and the Ahmanson Foundation, the university is one step closer to its first outdoor performance stage. Located on Robert B. Lawton Plaza in the heart of campus, the Drollinger Family Stage will host performances and events.
“The Drollinger Family Charitable Foundation and the Ahmanson Foundation have evidenced their support of LMU on multiple levels,” said Bryant Keith Alexander, dean of the LMU College of Communication and Fine Arts. “The Drollinger Family Stage will serve as yet another monument of their commitment to the powerful mission of LMU, to the critical and comprehensive education that we provide our students across all disciplines, and their understanding of the power of the arts in community building and social transformation.”
As an additional performance venue, the Drollinger Family Stage allows LMU to expand the number, range and types of performances it can provide including live theatrical and dance events, concerts, public lectures, and awards ceremonies. It also will serve as the permanent home of the annual Shakespeare on the Bluff, the only free outdoor staged festival in the area. The stage, along with the continued use of integrated amphitheater seating in Lawton Plaza, has been integral to the community building aspect of the festival now moving into its fourth year.
The Drollinger Family Stage will become an attractive and popular destination for renown artists and speakers, as well as enhance CFA’s existing community partnerships, many of which bring diverse and underrepresented youth from local schools to campus to explore and express social issues thorough artistic expression.
“My father, Howard Drollinger, was dedicated to serving this community, which included Loyola Marymount University,” said Karen Dial, president of Drollinger Properties and president of the Drollinger Family Charitable Foundation. “My brother Jim (’81) and I, along with our families, are proud to continue his tradition of philanthropy and community partnerships.”
Dean Alexander states, “The support from both foundations encourages and uplifts our efforts to make a difference in our community, through illuminating the vital role art plays in our society with not only the power to entertain, but also as a critical tool of information, formation and transformation which is cornerstone to the education of the whole person.” In regard to the Drollinger and Ahmanson Foundations, Alexander said, “Their generosity bolsters the importance of what we do and serves as a vote of confidence in the direction of our engaged contributions to our community, our society, and indeed the world.”
This new stage allows CFA to expand its current partnerships and program offerings. If you would like to support the future of the arts at LMU through this stage, please visit here.