Findlay, Ohio, Feb. 27, 2004 —The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum of original art from children’s picture books kicked off a $2.2 million fundraising campaign on Thursday, Feb. 26, at a black tie optional dessert reception in the Virginia B. Gardner Fine Arts Pavilion.

Alec Reinhardt, chairperson of the Mazza National Advisory Board, announced that $904,000, or 40 percent of the campaign total, has been raised in gifts and pledges. Construction of the addition will not begin until at least $1.7 has been received in paid gifts, with the remaining $500,000 pledged, he told a crowd of approximately 100 people.

The fundraising campaign is designed to add a proposed 8,000-square-feet of space to the existing Virginia B. Gardner Fine Arts Pavilion. The goal of the campaign is to raise $2.2 million by 2006 so that the art education addition can be dedicated and opened during Mazza’s 25th anniversary year in 2007.

Roger Berkowitz, director emeritus of the Toledo Museum of Art, was a featured speaker for the evening. He noted that the Mazza art education addition is being pursued in response to the growth of its collection and the demands of its public to accommodate genuine needs. “This is exactly the moment to ‘turn a new page’ for the Mazza Museum. It will also help to turn a new page in Mazza’s ever growing reputation, regionally, nationally and internationally as a well-respected, serious repository for international art from picture books, and also as a source of innovative programs and a destination for all those interested in the subject,” Berkowitz said.

Catherine Freed, wife of President DeBow Freed, also was a guest speaker at the event. “Mazza consistently improves, expands, reaches out and gives of itself,” she said. “I can think of no more deserving place to put donor dollars than this superbly deserving Mazza program.”

Features of the new addition will include a children’s art studio where children can experience first hand the art of creating picture books; exhibition space for the artwork done by school children; an art resource center that will include reference books, periodicals, videotapes and the Havens Library of more than 3,500 books; an expanded space for the Mazza Gift Gallery, which sells children’s books and related merchandise; an art vault with a museum-quality temperature and humidity controlled environment; an art preservation and restoration center; an art appreciation center seating 30 for undergraduate and graduate classes in the study of the art of picture books; and a board room, which will provide professional meeting space.

Those interested in giving to the campaign should contact Ann Brossia, executive director of planned giving, at 419-434-4794 or email brossia@findlay.edu.

The Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books is the world’s first and largest teaching museum dedicated to literacy and the art of children’s picture books. Founded in 1982, the Mazza Museum now contains more than 2,300 pieces of original artwork. The mission of the Museum is to promote literacy by providing educational programs for children and adults by utilizing its preeminent collection of original art from children’s picture books. More than 5,000 individuals visit the Museum each year.