AKRON, Ohio – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced it will invest more than $31 million to rename and transform the University of Akron’s Polsky Building and support local arts initiatives.

The University of Akron will receive $20 million to renovate the Polsky Building, which will be renamed after the Knight brothers and serve as a hub that promotes civic engagement, arts initiatives and more. Plans for the building call for housing academic and community programs with the goal of benefitting students and community members

The university will use the funds to open the interior of the building and create a dynamic space featuring the latest technology. Funds will also be used to support entrepreneurship, community collaboration, artistic performances and learning, according to the news release.

Upgrades to the building align with the university’s strategy to reorient its campus toward downtown in an effort to strengthen ties between the community and university while reshaping the city’s core.

“This investment will transform a dormant building into a vibrant gateway that opens the university to Main Street,” Kyle Kutuchief, director of Knight’s program in Akron, said in a news release. “As a University of Akron graduate, I have seen firsthand how the school is committed to the community. The new building, named after the foundation, will be yet another step in reinvigorating Akron, becoming a great civic asset for downtown and fostering more collaboration between the university and residents.”

The foundation will invest more than $11 million in three area arts organizations and open calls that fund artistic creation and tech integration. These multi-year grants will aim to create a foundation for additional development, increase capacity and assist artists and arts organizations with improving connections to their communities and creating meaningful connections between people and place—a key part of the Knight Foundation’s arts strategy.

Local arts initiatives receiving funding include:

• Akron Art Museum: $7 million to incorporate digital and technical infrastructure and create a gallery space dedicated to showcasing digital artwork.
• ArtsNow: $1 million to support the Akron Cultural Plan, a strategic roadmap for the arts in Akron that was adopted by Akron City Council in 2020. Part of the funding will also go toward providing technical support to the Akron Black Artist Guild.
• National Center for Choreography: $1.5 million to create the NCC Akron Choreography Prize and to create an endowment for ongoing operation.
• Knight New Work Akron: $1 million to support the creation of new works of art that use technology by Akron-area artists.
• Knight Digital Transformation Fund: $750,000 to launch an open call that will offer operational technology support to artists and up-and-coming arts organizations in Akron.

“Real change in community is made possible by long-term commitment and clear-eyed vision,” Knight Foundation CEO and President Alberto Ibargüen said in the release. “Since our founding in 1950, we’ve been committed to building a city of Akron where social and economic opportunities abound because all residents have a voice and are bound together by art and a culture of community. This latest set of investments is testament to our belief in Akron’s future.”