The first major gift of the Ramsons Arts Partnership has borne fruit: William Baptist University in Walnut Ridge recently completed its conversion of the historic Startup Chapel to a state-of-the-art theater auditorium.
At the recent Open House event, WBU officials recognized and thanked Ramsons Construction and vice president Scott McDaniel for their generous support of the campaign to renovate and restore the more than 80-year-old chapel structure.
“We were proud to support this project from the beginning,” McDaniel said, “and we’re even more proud now that the vision has been realized and it’s benefiting theater and arts students who attend WBU.”
The chapel was originally constructed as part of the Army Air Field military base during World War II, and was later moved to the WBU campus, where it functioned as the student chapel until the 500-seat Manley Chapel was built in 2009. Since that time, it has mainly served as the venue for stage productions by the university’s Theatre Department.
The Ramsons Arts Partnership is a strategic, focused, philanthropic plan, McDaniel said. The idea originated after the company hosted, on behalf of Delta Poets, Virginia’s former Poet Laureate and National Book Award Finalist, Tim Seibles for a poetry reading at downtown Jonesboro’s Recovery Room.
“We build buildings, and the arts build people,” McDaniel said. “That’s the fundamental reasoning behind the Ramsons Arts Partnership; it’s a good match and worth supporting. The WBU Startup Chapel showcases it perfectly.”
While Ramsons will continue to give to various non-arts-related charities, he said, the company’s primary giving priorities will be geared towards sponsoring and supporting regional, larger-scale arts programs and initiatives.
