University of Illinois receives $1 million Mellon grant

The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced Friday that it received a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The four-year grant will support art initiatives and programs on campus, according to a statement from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The grant will support musical performances across multiple genres, including an annual residency of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the statement said. It will also renew a recently expired grant that supported a program called “Inside View,” which provides opportunities for students to learn more about classical music through master classes, residence hall concerts, tours, conversations about careers in the arts and post-performance events in which students can meet the musicians.

Another program – similar to the Ikenberry Commons and the Arts – aimed at getting students living in residence halls involved in the arts will also benefit from the grant, the statement said. The Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls were named as the first site for this program.

“We’re trying to get students involved with the arts in every possible way we can think of,” Deborah Miller, the director of development for Krannert Center, said in the statement.