Skip to main content
Connecticut College
  • About Connecticut College
  • Academics
  • Admission & Financial Aid
  • Alumni & Life After Conn
  • Athletics
  • Campus & Community
  • Career Preparation
  • Commencement
  • Defy Boundaries Campaign
  • Giving
  • Human Resources
  • Strategic Planning
  • Student Experience
  • Calendar
  • News
  • Directory
  • Employment
  • Libraries & Technology
  • CC Magazine
  • Site Map
Make a gift CamelWeb Today at Conn

Specialized Resources

  • Accessibility Services
  • Admission Deadlines
  • Admitted Students
  • Admitted Student Statistics
  • Arboretum
  • Arts and Culture
  • Bookshop
  • Campus Map
  • Clubs and Activities
  • Counseling Services
  • Directions to Campus
  • Essays That Worked
  • Financial Aid Services
  • Health Services
  • International Students
  • Interviewing
  • Libraries
  • Orientation
  • Request Information
  • Residential Life
  • Majors and Minors
  • Student Blog
  • Sustainability
  • Technology Services
  • Title IX: Sexual Respect
  • Transfer Students
  • Tuition and Fees
  • Transportation
  • Visit Campus
  • Academic Advising
  • Academic Calendar
  • Academic Resource Center
  • Arboretum
  • Arts and Culture
  • Camel Card Office
  • Campus Safety
  • Campus Map
  • Career Services
  • Class Schedules
  • Clubs and Student Engagement
  • Connections
  • Counseling Services
  • Course Catalog
  • Equity and Inclusion
  • Environmental Health & Safety
  • Global Focus
  • Health Services
  • Libraries
  • Residential Life
  • Sustainability
  • Technology Services
  • Title IX: Sexual Respect
  • Transportation
  • Academic Advising
  • Academic Calendar
  • Arboretum
  • Arts and Culture
  • Banner Self-Service
  • Camel Card Office
  • Campus Map
  • Campus Safety
  • Center for Teaching & Learning
  • Course Catalog
  • Course Information and Schedules
  • Equity and Inclusion
  • Employee Benefits
  • Environmental Health & Safety
  • Facilities Management
  • Human Resources
  • Instructional Technology
  • Libraries
  • Moodle
  • Sustainability
  • Technology Services
  • Title IX: Sexual Respect
  • Wellness Program
  • Academic Calendar
  • Academic Resource Center
  • Alcohol and Drug Education
  • Arboretum
  • Arts & Culture
  • Athletics Calendar
  • Bookshop
  • Camel Card Office
  • Campus Map
  • Campus Safety
  • Career Services
  • CARE Team
  • Commencement
  • Counseling Services
  • Equity and Inclusion
  • Fall Weekend
  • Applying for Financial Aid
  • First-Year Student FAQ
  • Global Focus
  • Health Services
  • Libraries
  • Orientation
  • Parent enewsletter
  • Parents Council
  • Residential Life
  • Resources for Parents and Families
  • Student Employment
  • Tuition and Fees
  • Visiting New London

 

  • Area Attractions & Events
  • Area Hotels
  • Arboretum
  • Arts and Culture
  • Bookshop
  • Campus Map
  • Campus Safety
  • The Children's Program
  • Community Learning/Volunteering
  • Directions
  • Events and Catering
  • Equity and Inclusion
  • Reserving Harkness Chapel
  • Local Restaurants and Dining
  • OnStage Performances
  • Transportation
  • Alumni Directory
  • Alumni Events
  • Alumni Association
  • Arts and Culture
  • Bookshop
  • Campus Map
  • Fall Weekend
  • Global Focus
  • Libraries
  • Library Databases
  • Notable Alumni
  • Email Help
  • Replacement Diploma
  • Reunion
  • Sponsor an Internship
  • Support the College
  • Title IX: Sexual Respect
  • Transcripts
  • Update Your Info
  • Volunteer
  • Post a job or internship
  • Explore employment programs
  • Learn about funded internships

Connecticut College announces $20 million for the arts

A rendering of the renovation plans for Palmer Auditorium.
  • Home 
  • Home 
  • News 
  • News Archive 
  • 2018 
  • Center for the Arts

Connecticut College announces $20 million for the arts

Connecticut College has received two gifts totaling $20 million for the renovation of Palmer Auditorium and Castle Court into a new and revitalized center for performance and creative research.

Funding for the initiative will be provided through a $10 million grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation and a $10 million gift from Nancy Marshall Athey ’72 and Preston Athey, longtime supporters of the College and its arts programs.

The transformation of the space will promote pioneering artistic production and research, attract world-renowned artists-in-residence, bring together alumni leaders in the arts and offer renewed spaces for community engagement. Central to the project is a historically informed renovation of Palmer Auditorium, the College’s iconic Art Deco theater built in 1939, including a new entrance and a complete façade renewal. The project also envisions opening Castle Court, the space adjacent to the auditorium, into a natural amphitheater and outdoor classroom.

“Our strategic plan recognizes the importance of creative research as fundamental to developing imaginative and engaged citizens of the future,” said Connecticut College President Katherine Bergeron. “We are so grateful to the Sherman Fairchild trustees and to Nancy and Preston for their extraordinary generosity and for making this vision a reality.”

The historic Palmer Auditorium was visionary in its own time — a 1300-seat hall, designed by William Lamb, principal architect of the Empire State Building, built to serve not just the campus but the surrounding community. Since opening in 1939, it has featured such renowned musicians, dancers and performers as the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Martha Graham, José Limón, the American Dance Festival, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, the Pilobolus dance company, Dizzy Gillespie, Yo-Yo Ma and many others.  

“Palmer Auditorium is more than a performance and gathering space. It’s an academic building and center for arts research and creative innovation at Connecticut College,” said David Jaffe, chair of the theater department. “The renovation of the auditorium and redesign of the broader structure will profoundly impact the study and practice of theater, music, film and dance, both on campus and in the local community. Without question, these gifts will dramatically enhance the academic experience for our students and faculty.”

A rendering of the renovation plans for Palmer Auditorium seen from Tempel Green.


The Sherman Fairchild Foundation has supported a large range of initiatives at the College in both the arts and sciences during the past forty years. The most significant award from the Foundation to date was a grant of $5 million to support the renovation of New London Hall into an integrative center for computer and life sciences. Nancy Athey, an alumna of the College, and her husband Preston Athey have funded scholarships, research and arts initiatives for students and faculty that have significantly advanced the College’s mission of putting the liberal arts into action. Their sponsorship of the All-Steinway initiative in 2012 not only raised the profile of the music department but also enhanced performance for so many students and community members on campus.

“We are so pleased to play a part in bringing this wonderful project to fruition and to help in the reinvention of a venerable and historic building into a new center for the arts,” said Nancy Athey. “With this investment, we hope to bring the greater New London community to the campus and to contribute to the College’s continued preeminence in the creative and performing arts.”

Specific renovation plans for Palmer Auditorium include:

  • improved seating and sight lines
  • enhanced rehearsal spaces and classroom spaces
  • a green room/seminar room
  • augmented costume storage and production support
  • improved rake, curtain, sound and lighting
  • new sprung stage floor
  • heightened accessibility

The initiative will capitalize on the proximity of Palmer Auditorium to both the Joanne and Nathan Cummings Arts Center and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, catalyzing the development of the College’s south campus as a true arts destination as envisioned in the College’s new master plan completed by Sasaki Associates.

The project is currently in the planning phase with completion anticipated in 2020.

The College hosted a celebration to announce the project and the gifts to the campus community on April 12 in the Charles Chu Room at Shain Library. 

President Katherine Bergeron, left, and Board of Trustee Chair Pamela D. Zilly ’75 unveil a rendering of the new center for performance and creative research.
President Katherine Bergeron, left, and Board of Trustees Chair Pamela D. Zilly ’75 unveil a rendering of the new center for performance and creative research at a campus event announcing two gifts totaling $20 million for a new and revitalized center for performance and creative research.
Members of the Connecticut College community cheer upon learning that the College had received a $10 grant and a $10 gift.
Members of the Connecticut College community cheer upon learning that the College has received a $10 million grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation and a $10 million gift from Nancy Marshall Athey ’72 and Preston Athey.
President Katherine Bergeron speaks at the campus event.
At the event, President Katherine Bergeron thanked the Sherman Fairchild Foundation and the Atheys for their extraordinary generosity. “Our strategic plan recognizes the importance of creative research as fundamental to developing imaginative and engaged citizens of the future,” she said.
The cast of “Spring Awakening
The cast of “Spring Awakening,” a Theater Department mainstage production that ran March 2-4, sang a selection from the musical at the campus gathering.
Board of Trustee Chair Pamela D. Zilly ’75 speaks at the campus celebration.
Board of Trustees Chair Pamela D. Zilly ’75 shared her excitement for the arts center as the first of several planned renovation and revitalization projects across campus.
Nancy Marshall Athey ’72 poses with Professor of Dance David Dorfman ’81 and Professor of Theater David Jaffe ’77.
Nancy Marshall Athey ’72 poses with Professor of Dance David Dorfman ’81 and Professor of Theater David Jaffe ’77.
Professor of Theater David Jaffe ’77 speaks at the campus event.
Professor of Theater David Jaffe ’77 spoke about the impact the transformation of Palmer Auditorium and Castle Court will have on the arts at Connecticut College.
(From left) President Katherine Bergeron, Nancy Marshall Athey ’72 and Board of Trustee Chair Pamela D. Zilly ’75 pose in front of a rendering of the new center for performance and creative research at the campus celebration.
(From left) President Katherine Bergeron, Nancy Marshall Athey ’72 and Board of Trustees Chair Pamela D. Zilly ’75 pose in front of a rendering of the new center for performance and creative research at the campus celebration.



April 12, 2018

Related News & Media

Recent News

Day Baez ’25 honored as a 2022 Newman Civic Fellow

Day Baez ’25 honored as a 2022 Newman Civic Fellow

Student News

Athey Center Opens

Athey Center Opens

Connecticut College
270 Mohegan Avenue
New London, CT 06320
1 (860) 447-1911
info@conncoll.edu
admission@conncoll.edu
Web Privacy Policy
Web Accessibility Notice

Website Navigation

  • About Connecticut College
  • Academics
  • Admission & Financial Aid
  • Alumni & Life After Conn
  • Athletics
  • Campus & Community
  • Career Preparation
  • Commencement
  • Defy Boundaries Campaign
  • Giving
  • Human Resources
  • Strategic Planning
  • Student Experience
Make a gift CamelWeb Today at Conn
  • Calendar
  • News
  • Directory
  • Employment
  • Libraries & Technology
  • CC Magazine
  • Site Map

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn