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Myers gift names PAC reception area

College board member's gift recognizes late husband's love of the arts

Appreciation and support of the arts have always been central themes for Karen Myers as well as for her late husband, Tom. Karen Myers said she is pleased her naming gift for the Performing Arts Center at Garrett College both supports the arts and honors Tom’s memory.

“I truly believe arts are very important to being a well-rounded individual and having quality experiences,” said Myers, who serves on the Garrett College Board of Trustees. “I wanted to give to this campaign both because of its importance to our community and to honor Tom’s love of the arts.”

The gift creates the W. Thomas Myers Reception Area within the PAC while assisting the Garrett College Foundation in building the PAC endowment. The endowment campaign has raised more than $2.4 million toward the $2.5 million campaign goal.

 

Karen Myers has provided a naming gift for the reception area in the Performing Arts Center at Garrett College honoring her late husband, Tom. Pictured, left to right, are Garrett College President Dr. Richard Midcap, Myers, and Garrett College Foundation Executive Director Cherie Krug.

“I appreciate Karen’s passion for the arts and commitment to our performing arts center,” said Dr. Richard Midcap, Garett College’s president. “It’s wonderful that Tom Myers’ love of the arts and his many contributions to our community are being memorialized in this way.”

Cherie Krug, executive director of the Garrett College Foundation, said the gift “is just the latest example of the Myers family’s dedication to the goal of making the performing arts accessible to everyone.”

Myers – one of the original donors to the Garrett Lakes Arts Festival when GLAF was formed in the 1980s – said she developed an early appreciation for the arts.

“I believe all the arts – dancing, painting, music – are important, especially the performing arts,” said Myers, who credited her initial music teacher, McHenry resident Lillian Reckner, with nurturing her love of the arts. “I learned very early in life that young people who can connect with music also do well in math and science. In fact, the alumni of Tom’s Yale Class of 1957 sponsored the study that showed the positive relationship between music and math/science proficiency.”

For more information on Garrett College, please contact Stacy Holler at 301-387-3045 or stacy.holler@garrettcollege.edu.