New Youth Center in Idaho Falls
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(IDAHO FALLS, ID) — The Idaho Falls Arts Council has received a community challenge gift of $241,000 to raise matching funds to complete the construction of ARTitorium on Broadway, an exciting new interactive youth arts center in downtown Idaho Falls. Named the “Phantom 2.0 Challenge” the gift stipulates it will match, dollar for dollar, all pledges and/or donations up to $241,000 made in support of the ARTitorium on Broadway project from May 21st through September 30, 2013. If successfully matched, the combined $482,000 will finish
the Arts Council’s $1.53 million capital campaign and cover the remaining costs necessary to construct and open ARTitorium on Broadway by the summer of 2014.
Located in the former Rio Movie Theater in downtown Idaho Falls, ARTitorium on Broadway will be a technology driven arts center for youth which visitors of all ages will enjoy. The main floor will be comprised of a dazzling array of dynamic interactive art stations including a lighted motion wall, virtual art gallery, gigantic magnetic wall, computerized animation kiosk and life size
green screen. Most of the interactive art stations are being developed by Protozone Interactives whose clients include The National Museum of Art, The San Francisco Exploratorium and The National Museum of Science and Industry. The second floor (formerly the balcony of the Rio Theater,) is being renovated into a 170 seat performing arts theater and sound recording studio for use by local arts and youth organizations as well as the Arts Council.
The $241,000 gift is being donated by a small group of arts supporters who will reveal their identities once the matching funds are raised. The deadline for matching the funds is September 30, 2013 which allows for just over 4 months to raise the remaining $241,000 as either gifts or pledges. Pledges may be paid over a multi-year period.
“Despite having gone through the worst recession since the Depression, the Arts Council had already successfully raised over $1 million towards this project before Mary Lynn Hartwell and I were asked to serve as Capital Campaign Co-Chairs,” says Carrie Getty Scheid. “With only $482,000 left to go, we were fortunate to find a small group of local citizens willing to put up half the funds in a challenge gift to help finish the campaign. Now that we have the $241,000 challenge in place, we are very hopeful that the good citizens and businesses of eastern Idaho will match those funds by the end of September.”
“With the economy improving and the stock market at an all time high, we felt this was the right time to fulfill the Arts Council’s dream of providing a world class arts center created especially for young people here in eastern Idaho,” says Mary Lynn Hartwell. “Moreover, we think the visitor traffic ARTitorium on Broadway will attract can only benefit our local economy,
especially our downtown businesses.”
Anyone interested in making a pledge or donation should contact Carrie Getty Scheid at cscheid@Q.com or 208-206-9506. Donations can be mailed to the Idaho Falls Arts Council, 498 A Street, Idaho Falls, ID 83402.