Meadows Foundation gives SMU $45M, largest gift in school’s history

Southern Methodist University becomes the recipient Monday of the largest single gift in the school’s history, a $45 million grant from the Meadows Foundation, which is designating $25 million for the Meadows Museum and $20 million for Meadows School of the Arts.

The gift comes at an opportune time for SMU, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. At the same time, the Meadows Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a pair of landmark exhibitions from Europe.

The foundation’s largesse creates a defining moment in North Texas philanthropy for the arts, when paired with the University of Texas at Dallas receiving a $17 million gift from Edith O’Donnell in May to build a new institute of art history.

SMU President R. Gerald Turner drew a parallel between the gift from the Meadows Foundation and the emergence of the Dallas Arts District, accelerated by the 2009 opening of the $354 million AT&T Performing Arts Center, paid for almost entirely with private funding.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20150322-meadows-foundation-gives-smu-45m-largest-gift-in-schools-history.ece