News and Events
Underwood Estate Funds Arts Lobby
With the passing of John G. Underwood on December 26, 2008, Washington College received $1.5 million to name the lobby in the $24 million Gibson Center for the Arts, slated to be open for the Fall 2009 semester.
The Underwood Lobby will be an art-filled gathering space for students, faculty and community members coming to see productions in any of Gibson's performance spaces—the main proscenium Decker Theatre, Tawes Black Box Theatre, the recital hall—as well as exhibits in the Kohl Art Gallery. Providing a dramatic glassed space for receptions and exhibits, the Underwood Lobby overlooks Martha Washington Square and the Cater Walk.
Mr. Underwood's contribution augments an earlier gift of $1 million from his late wife, Nancy, to create the Underwood Chair in Art and Art History, now held by associate professor Donald McColl. In addition to funding the Underwood Chair, Mrs. Underwood donated antique furniture and paintings now housed in the Hynson-Ringgold House and the Patrick Henry House.
"This gift is a fitting bookend to the Nancy L. Underwood Chair in Art and Art History and a memorial of her affection for Washington College and the arts," Mr. Underwood said in making provisions for the gift to fund the lobby. "Nancy took comfort that she had found in Washington College a venue to foster in others her passion for art and to preserve favorite pieces from her collection. I look forward to the lasting contribution the arts center makes to the Washington College experience and to our community."
The late John Underwood and his wife, Nancy, had retired to Chestertown after living for many years in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Columbus, OH, where he was a senior project manager with Asea Brown-Boveri, an international construction and engineering company. The couple had been married at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chestertown.