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NMSU's Center For The Arts Gets $500K Gift

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – New Mexico State University's upcoming Center for the Arts has a received a major gift.

Rama and Ammu Devasthali have pledged $500,000 toward the building of the center's first phase.

The Devasthalis have lived and worked in Las Cruces for 22 years. Ammu, who has a master's degree in printmaking and a Master of Fine Arts in painting, both from NMSU, is an artist and has a local studio, Art Ventures. Rama, a physician, is president of the Imaging Center of Las Cruces Radiology Associates.

The next opportunity to learn more about the Center for the Arts will be at a Rally 'Round the Arts event from 6 to 7:30 next Wednesday night (September 23).

Local artists, dancers, musicians and other performers will entertain the crowd at the corner of University Avenue and Espina Street, the planned site for the new center.

The Center for the Arts will combine NMSU's scattered arts programs in one central location, encouraging more collaborative activity and providing the community easier access. The facility also will dramatically change the look of University Avenue.

Phase I includes a 500-seat Dance and Theatre Arts Performance Hall, classrooms and rehearsal space, state-of-the-art sound and lighting technology, and an orchestra pit.

Construction is scheduled to begin next year.