The Woodruff Arts Center announced Wednesday it has received a $5 million gift from the James M. Cox Foundation.
The gift is part of the Transformation Campaign, begun last year to increase endowments, renovate the Alliance Memorial Arts Building and provide greater access to the arts for families.
Virginia Hepner, president and chief executive officer of the center, said, in a statement, "The generosity of the Cox Foundation and the Cox family has been instrumental in the success of the Woodruff Arts Center, the High Museum of Art and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for decades."
Alex Taylor, executive vice president at Cox Enterprises, said, in a statement,"This grant builds upon our family's passionate commitment to Atlanta, including my grandmother's unwavering support of the High."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is part of Cox Media Group, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises.
The gift was announced Wednesday but confirmed earlier this month; it brings the Transformation Campaign to $94.8 million of its $100 million goal.
Funds raised during the campaign have already expanded the number of low-cost events at the center, bringing 32,000 visitors to the center for free activities at the High Museum, the Alliance Theatre and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since mid-2015.
The campaign will also pay for a top-to-bottom remake of the Alliance theater space.
The James M. Cox Foundation is named in honor of Cox Enterprises’ founder. James M. Cox was Ohio’s first three-term governor and the 1920 Democratic nominee for president of the United States.
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