For Immediate Release
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H-E-B Makes Donation to The Arts Center Campaign
BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS – October 31, 2008 – H-E-B and Charles C. Butt, chairman and CEO, have made a $1 million gift to the capital campaign of The Arts Center at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
The TSC Board of Trustees unanimously accepted the gift Thursday, Oct. 30, and named the lobby gallery in honor of Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt, Mr. Butt's mother. 
Mrs. Butt was a former Rio Grande Valley resident and a strong advocate for health, education, the arts, day care for working mothers, and juvenile justice.
Representing Mr. Butt and H-E-B at the TSC Board of Trustees meeting was Robert Palomin, director of H-E-B Regional Operations for the Lower Valley.
“We are very appreciative of this opportunity to continue the partnership that we have developed over the years, and we continue to look for other ways to expand on that,” Palomin said.
Palomin introduced the store managers for Brownsville and Port Isabel H-E-B stores and members of H-E-B human resources and public affairs departments.
Dr. Ruth Ann Ragland, UTB/TSC vice president for Institutional Advancement, announced the gift.
“Mr. Butt and H-E-B have been leaders in the Rio Grande Valley for many years in the areas of economic opportunity development, health, education, and the arts,” Ragland said. “Mr. Butt and H-E-B recognize the importance of an outstanding education and performance facility at UTB/TSC.
“He has established an endowed scholarship for students at UTB/TSC, and many of our students and alumni have had opportunity to join the H-E-B family as employees. Some of those are present tonight.”
The Arts Center lobby gallery will cover 5,300 square feet. It will have large glass windows to provide excellent views of the Fort Brown Resaca and historic Fort Brown buildings. The lobby gallery will be a venue for art exhibits by students and invited community, national and international artists. It also will be an elegant space for banquets that will accommodate 200 people seated and receptions for up to 1,200.
Previously named gifts to The Arts Center include the Gloria and James D. Zellerbach Green Room, the Dr. Roberto and Perla Robles Teaching Studio, the IBC Orchestra Pit and the Tipton Family Teaching Studio.
Construction is under way on the $25 million Arts Center adjacent to the Jacob Brown Auditorium. Funded as part of a $68 million bond package, a capital campaign has begun to raise $6.7 million to "top off" $18 million in bond funding.
The 49,887-square-foot structure will feature an 808-seat performance hall with a fully equipped stage designed to accommodate orchestras, operas, dance and theater productions with as many as 150 people on stage simultaneously. It also will include space for teaching studios and reherasal halls.
To learn more about giving opportunities, please contact the UTB/TSC Division of Institutional Advancement at (956) 882-4322.