[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-1606”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“100”,“height”:“100”,“alt”:“New York Times”}}]]On March 30, Dartmouth announced the naming of its visual arts center in honor of Leon Black, Class of 1973, and his wife Debra. The Black family has also commissioned a new site-specific wall sculpture by renowned American abstract artist Ellsworth Kelly that will hang on the east façade of the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

The New York Times, in an article detailing the announcement, points to Leon Black’s remarks about his family’s gift to Dartmouth. “We hope this building fosters creativity among Dartmouth’s students and faculty—that it inspires them to dream big, be courageous, take artistic risks—and infuses them with the life-changing power of the visual arts,” Black said.

The Black Family Visual Arts Center, designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates, is set to open in September 2012, and will house the Departments of Studio Art and of Film and Media Studies, as well as the Digital Humanities program.

Read the full story, published 3/29/12 by The New York Times.