ETSU has received a $1 million endowment to establish the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts.
ETSU President Paul Stanton made the announcement Friday during a news conference.
James C. “Jim” Martin, of Johnson City, donated the funds in memory of his wife, Mary, an ETSU alumnus, who earned her B.A. in chemistry while working at Kingsport’s Eastman Chemical Co. Martin said his wife, a research chemist of 44 years, knew the value of the incorporation of arts and sciences. In fact, that’s part of the legacy that Martin hopes to perpetuate through the endowment.
“The school will continue Mary’s legacy of support for the arts,” Martin said. “I hope to see more artistic interaction with majors like math, business and computer science.”
During the news conference, Stanton announced that Anita DeAngelis will be the school’s director. DeAngelis, who currently serves as the associate dean of the arts at ETSU, demonstrated her enthusiasm through the explanation of clear, achievable goals that will become realities through the establishment of the new school.
“Our goal is to develop a comprehensive arts calendar, provide advocacy for the arts, and recruit out-of-state students,” DeAngelis said.
Stanton discussed the benefits of the new school. “It will help us better coordinate our arts programs and bring about better collaboration among the arts departments in order to draw in more students,” he said.
ETSU is recognized for its unique offerings in arts programs, such as the Bluegrass program, which draws students from around the world.
The establishment of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts will help bring about greater visibility for the arts programs at ETSU and create a broader base of arts majors and minors.
The school itself is not a new building, but rather a collaboration and better coordination of the school’s already existing arts programs.

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