University of New England

Nexus

‘SETTING THE STAGE’ 
for the George and Barbara Bush Cultural Center

Plato addressed his students from the Academy, the most famous school in the classical world. President Theodore Roosevelt built the West Wing of the White House especially for high-level cabinet meetings. The New York Philharmonic began performing in the Apollo Rooms of lower Manhattan, but moved to Carnegie Hall, then the Lincoln Center as its prominence and popularity grew.

Great ideas, powerful conversations and brilliant performances need inspiring spaces to nurture and showcase them.



The George and Barbara Bush Cultural Center will become the epicenter of art, culture and ideas on the Biddeford campus of the University of New England. More than bricks and mortar, the Cultural Center will be a place to celebrate the human spirit and cultivate the diversity of ideas that are the hallmark of a liberal arts education. Within the Center, creative, intellectual and social pursuits will intermingle to enrich and enliven campus life. The Center’s meeting places, performing spaces and changing spectrum of activities will enchant, inform and unite the University community.

The need for the Center arises from the expansion and diversification of the College of Arts and Sciences that began about six years ago under the leadership of then-dean Jacque Carter, Ph.D. Once relegated to providing basic liberal arts courses to health-care majors as a way to round out their university education, the College over the years has developed a unique mission and character of its own, much like a small New England liberal arts college. New majors have been created, like English, history, art education, psychology and political science. More and more students have enrolled. Today, the College boasts some 1,200 undergraduates and a total enrollment of nearly 2,000 students.

At the same time, the University Campus has no venue for an audience over a couple hundred people. And no performance space at all, except to “jerry rig” the gym or Campus Center.

With the rapid development of UNE’s liberal arts curriculum, it became abundantly clear the campus needed a unique, modern facility that would support and enhance the College of Arts and Sciences’ coming of age and future growth.
A capital campaign to raise $11 million (appropriately named “Setting the Stage”) is underway to fund the construction of the George and Barbara Bush Cultural Center. The building will be sited along the south side of Decary Hall, facing Stella Maris Hall.

The UNE/Bush Connection
The connection with the Bushes, who generously lent their name and personal support to the project, is several fold. First, their proximity. Their family home on Walker’s Point is just a few miles away in Kennebunkport. More importantly, many of the values and interests promoted by George and Barbara Bush are closely aligned with UNE’s core programs of study.
George and Barbara Bush have committed themselves to public and volunteer service. Even in retirement they continue to embrace a select group of special interests - including health care, literacy, internationalism and citizenship. The University shares these interests with the Bush family.

The Center’s Special Features

The Bush Center includes five distinct elements:

The Performance Hall, accommodating up to 500 persons in tiered theater-style and special-box seating, will include a large stage which can host an educational and entertaining mix of cultural events and performances. This new venue will offer a diverse menu of student, community and professional theater productions, lectures, academic conferences, film, comedy, opera, dance and other musical performances. The entire University community and all of southern Maine will have access to the medley of artistic and academic events UNE can sponsor in this exciting new space.

The Bush Legacy Library will house material chronicling the Bush legacy, including memorabilia on loan from the Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University. Particular attention will be given to the family’s New England heritage and to the Bushes’ special love affair with Maine. The historic value of these resources will be of interest to scholars, local historians, community residents and visitors to southern Maine. The library will also have computer research capabilities and provide a dignified, formal office setting for study and small meetings.

The President’s Room will seat up to 58 people conference-style. This attractively appointed space with a panoramic water view will be used for meetings of the University’s board of trustees and UNE’s student government, symposia, faculty, student, administrative and community meetings. The President’s Room, the Bush Legacy Library and the President’s Gallery can be used in combinations which accommodate a variety of meeting and event requirements.

The Town Square on the first floor of the Center will include the foyer and office space for the coordinator of Student Affairs, who will oversee the management of the Cultural Center, and the director of International Programs and Study. Meeting space is also dedicated to a revolving schedule of student clubs and activities. Centrally located and filled with natural light and comfortable furnishings, this space will function as a busy town square, a place where students and faculty interact informally and learning experiences outside the classroom flourish.

The design elements of the foyer and second floor galleries will create distinctive Gallery and Exhibition space. The works of art displayed in the Cultural Center will be a decorative affirmation of the creative spirit.

A Dream about to Come True
The hallmark of the undergraduate experience is a core curriculum which awakens and fosters intellectual curiosity and helps students learn to think critically and analytically. The George and Barbara Bush Cultural Center will put culture center stage and will be an architectural presence on campus that makes a clear visual statement regarding UNE’s commitment to the liberal arts.
Henry David Thoreau said, “Dreams are the touchstones of our characters. The George and Barbara Bush Cultural Center is a dream about to come true.

If you would like more information about the George and Barbara Bush Cultural Center, visit our web site at www.une.edu/giving/bushindex.asp or call (207) 221-4376.

Back to table of contents