Philanthropist Nancy Hamon has given $10 million for a new rehearsal, education and recital space to be attached to the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, putting the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts $2 million over its initial fund-raising goal of $275 million, center officials will announce today.
The 200-seat space, to be called the Nancy Hamon Education and Recital Hall, will enhance the 2,200-seat opera house by creating a separate, much-needed space, officials say. A portion of Ms. Hamon's $10 million will go toward beefing up the building's acoustical and theatrical systems while adding more luster to the venue's interior finish.
"I'm looking forward to the opening," said Ms. Hamon, 89, who divides her time between Dallas and San Francisco, which has also reaped the benefits of her philanthropy. The center is set to open in fall 2009.
Dallas Center for the Performing Arts
Nancy Hamon with Julie Andrews at the Dallas Center for the Peforming Arts' Act Two gala in October 2006.
"A lot of people came in before me," she said, referring to the center's long list of donors. Asked how she felt about the project as a whole, she paused and with a soft chuckle said, "They just have been after me for the longest time."
Ms. Hamon's gift is the fourth $10 million contribution to the campaign, Dallas officials say, following $10 million contributions from Mrs. Eugene McDermott and the Eugene McDermott Foundation, Deedie and Rusty Rose and an anonymous donor.
The largest gift to the center's campaign was $42 million, given by Margot and Bill Winspear, which officials say is "the largest single gift in the history of Dallas." Next largest was $20 million from Charles and Dee Wyly and Sam and Cheryl Wyly.
Caren Prothro, vice chair of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Board of Directors, praised Ms. Hamon's largesse, saying, "Nancy Hamon's generosity can be felt in every corner of our city. To now have the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts added to the long list of projects that she has supported is an honor and says a great deal about the significance of the center."
A native Texan, Ms. Hamon worked as a dancer and actress in Hollywood during her younger years, appearing in dance lines in the movie The Heat Is On. She returned to Texas in 1949 as the wife of Dallas oilman Jake Hamon, who died in 1985. She said she was finally persuaded to give money to the center by her longtime friend Margaret McDermott, one of the center's primary donors.
Courtesy
The 200-seat Nancy Hamon Education and Recital Hall, an addition to the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, will have its own entrance.
"I hesitated about it, because I've given so much to the museums," said Ms. Hamon, who gave $20 million to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1988 and $10 million to the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in 2004. She has also given $25 million to University of Texas Southwestern Medical School for biomedical research.
She was convinced in the end to add the center to a stunning portfolio of contributions, "because of my admiration and friendship for Margaret McDermott. And I know that they'll use it well."
Center officials say the Nancy Hamon Education and Recital Hall will also be used for education classes, rehearsals, private meetings and receptions. The project's architects are Foster + Partners, the same firm designing the Winspear Opera House.
San Francisco beneficiaries of Ms. Hamon's donations include the boldly renovated De Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, where the building's observation tower bears her name. She laughed over the unexpected dividend being brought to San Francisco by the Hamon tower.
"When I gave that to San Francisco, I had no idea they would make money on it," she said with a chuckle. "But every week, they have weddings, parties or receptions. They use it as a club."
In addition to the opera house, the center will also include the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, Annette Strauss Artist Square, City Performance Hall and Performance Park, the 10-acre space that unifies the venues.
