Moses Brown Celebrates Opening of Woodman Family Community & Performance Center

PROVIDENCE – On Friday, December 9, Moses Brown School invites the public to a
housewarming for the new Woodman Family Community & Performance Center. The
ribbon-cutting takes place at 3:00 p.m., and will be followed by a housewarming
(3:15-4:45) during which guests are invited to explore this exciting new facility.

The 36,000-square-foot Woodman Center is one of the largest projects in the school’s
232-year history. The building, which features flexible architecture unlike anything
found in the Northeast, stands at the center of the Moses Brown campus and will
replace Alumni Hall, which was built in 1867 and is slated for renovation as an
engineering and design/maker space. The project also included the complete
renovation of the Walter Jones Library, as well as MB’s baseball, soccer, and tennis
facilities.

Based on an original concept by Chicago-based architect Trung Le, designed by
Providence-based Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects, and built by
Providence-based Shawmut Construction, with DEC Consulting as the school’s project
manager, the Woodman Center features telescoping seating and hydraulic flooring that
enables a quick transition between a 475-seat raked theater and a flat-floored black
box or exhibition hall. “The challenge with many school theaters,” says Head of
School Dr. Matt Glendinning, “is that they sit empty about half the time due to the
fixed seating. Our hope was to design a building flexible enough to accommodate all
the ways we gather as a community, for theater, music, art and cultural exhibitions,
social functions, and Quaker meeting for worship.”

With a lobby café, new classrooms, art gallery spaces, costume and scene shops, and
professional-grade sound and lighting, the Woodman Center will become the new
social, artistic, intellectual, and spiritual hub of the MB campus.

The building is named for the family of Dean Woodman ’46 (the fourth of five
generations to attend Moses Brown) who is the great-grandson of former headmaster
Augustine Jones (Class of 1854). Woodman attributes his love of learning to his time
at Moses Brown. “MB instilled in me a commitment to the pursuit of excellence,” he
says. He earned a degree from Amherst, served in the Naval Air Corps, and enjoyed a
distinguished career as an investment banker, though perhaps his most meaningful
investment was in his son Nick’s fledgling startup – GoPro. In 2013, the Woodmans
made the largest gift in school history to create the new community and performance
center.

“It is our hope that the Woodman Center will be utilized by a variety of community
organizations once it opens,” says Head of School Glendinning. “We see this as part
of our role as a member of the Providence community, to promote the intellectual,
artistic, and civic vitality that has always been a strength here.” On December 10
at 7 p.m., the Woodman Center will welcome its first community group: the Prism of
Praise gospel choir, celebrating its 25th anniversary concert (free to the public).

The housewarming marks a significant milestone in MB Believes: A Campaign for
Learning, People, and Place, the largest fundraising effort in school history,
launched in 2015 (www.mbbelieves.org). The campaign also includes plans to renovate
and expand the lower school; create new STEM and design programs; enhance access and
affordability through $15 million in new scholarship endowment; support MB’s global
travel program; and build a sailing and marine education center on Narragansett Bay.
To date, the campaign has generated more than $35 million in contributions from
2,743 people, toward an overall objective of $56.5 million, a record goal for
independent schools in the Providence area. The campaign is being led by Hasbro
Chairman, President, and CEO Brian Goldner and his wife Barbara, parents of an MB
alumna.

Founded in 1784, Moses Brown School is an independent, college preparatory school in
Providence, Rhode Island, enrolling 775 boys and girls, nursery through grade 12.
The school’s founder – an innovative thinker, philanthropist, and entrepreneur named
Moses Brown – envisioned a progressive school that defined excellence. Today, his
Quaker school continues to help children reach their full potential, and to do both
well and good in the world. For more information, visit www.mosesbrown.org.