Date:
9/6/2002
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
Reporter: Colleen Wright
Portales – Eastern New Mexico University, Ruidoso Center, was recently awarded a $6,900 grant by the R.D. and Joan Dale Hubbard Foundation at a reception held at the Hubbard Museum of American West in Ruidoso.
The donation to the ENMU-Ruidoso Art Department will be directed toward purchase of equipment for the studio art degree program. Typically, the program has about 100 students enrolled in a half dozen courses.
The school plans to purchase ceramic equipment, including throwing wheels and a kiln, print-making equipment, and a display case to display different pieces of art that Lincoln County artists have donated to the Ruidoso campus.
The Hubbard Foundation was founded by R.D. and Joan Dale Hubbard, owners of Ruidoso Downs Race Track and Casino, and other resort interests in the Ruidoso area. In the month of August alone, the Hubbards donated more than $110,000 in charitable gifts to different causes in southeastern New Mexico.
ENMU-Ruidoso submitted a grant application and received the art equipment award. This is not the first time the organization has helped ENMU-Ruidoso. Two years ago, the Hubbard Foundation donated over $8,000 to the Ruidoso campus to establish a graphics arts computer lab for ENMU and Ruidoso High School students.
"We are again thankful to the Hubbard foundation for their generosity and support of the Studio Art Program," Jim Miller, director of the ENMU Ruidoso Center, said. "This is the second gift Eastern has received from this wonderful organization in two years."
The art equipment to be purchased should be ready for student use by November of the 2002 fall semester.