Plans for UVA’s Center for the Arts catapulted forward by $275 million in new funding

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Plans to build a Center for the Arts at the University of Virginia are moving forward with $275 million in new funding.

Jody Kielbasa, vice provost for the arts at UVA, said the funding is monumental.

“This is really historic for the University of Virginia,” Kielbasa said. “It is the single largest appropriation from the state ever for a single capital project at the University of Virginia.”

The total package includes $205 million from the state, along with an additional $70 million donation from the Tessa Ader Fund, which builds on its existing $60 million gift. The combined total of $130 million is also the largest donation to a single building project at the university.

“The new UVA Center for the Arts will include a 1,200-seat performing arts hall, a 150-seat recital hall,” Kielbasa said.

Plans also include an experimental art space and the music and dance departments.

The center will also include two museums, the Fralin Museum of Art and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection.

“All in one extraordinary center for the arts,” Kielbasa said.

The center will stage both UVA students and area arts organizations when it opens in 2030.

Kielbasa said the center will be transformational for Charlottesville’s arts scene.

“We do not have a true performing arts center here in our community,” Kielbasa said. “So this is important to Central Virginia to be able to house all these extraordinary arts programs and presentations and exhibitions and performances.”

The center is now expected to break ground in spring 2027.

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