Elaine Wynn donates $5 million to Smith Center for Performing Arts

By Jackie Valley

Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 | 9:36 a.m.

Elaine Wynn has made the largest contribution of any individual — $5 million to target arts education — to The Smith Center for Performing Arts in downtown Las Vegas.

The hefty donation will establish a studio in her name, The Elaine Wynn Studio for Arts Education, that will include classrooms, conference rooms and offices for education program staff, interns and artists in residence inside the five-story, 70,000-square-foot Boman Pavilion.

The Elaine Wynn Studio eventually will feature hands-on learning experiences with performing and visual artists, master classes, workshops and individual instruction for established artists.

"The arts are not meant to exist for only a select few. Why wouldn't we want all of our children to experience creativity, either as artists themselves or people who delight in or are stimulated by the works of others?" Wynn said in a prepared statement. "With exposure and guidance, children can partake in the passion and joy of individual expression. No matter what one's circumstance, no negative condition can rob the soul of imagination and longing. This is a lesson we must pass on to our children."

Officials from The Smith Center also plan to use Boman Pavilion's two performance spaces, a studio theater and cabaret theater for children's theater and educational programming.