OCPAC gets $10M donation

More than a decade ago, former Orange County Performing Arts Center chairman Mark Johnson took Dana Point philanthropists Lawrence and Kristina Dodge to lunch. That lunch paid off on Tuesday with a $10 million donation to the arts center.

The center’s Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall is now home to the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge Education Center, which includes the Boeing Education Lab, a studio theater and offices for the education and community programs staff.

“We are happy that we have this opportunity to influence the community at large with the center’s wonderful educational initiatives,” Lawrence Dodge said. “This will be one of the greatest things we do in our lifetimes.”

The center’s education programs reach more than 500,000 people each year, and with the gift, which challenges the center to raise $20 million in matching donations, officials hope to up the ante to 800,000 people.

“We have some great programs in place to reach children, but this gift gives us the opportunity to explore new possibilities and reach even more people each year,” center President Terrence Dwyer said.

In addition to hosting the Summer at The Center musical theater program, which is running currently, the new education center will be home to numerous programs, such as the Center’s Arts Teach and the Professional Development Institute for teachers. The center’s continued work in this area has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as well as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The Dodges are also supporters of education and the arts at Chapman University, UC Irvine and St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano.