PSU inaugurates College of the Arts

The newly inducted College of the Arts was feted on Wednesday in the Shattuck Hall Annex.

The event announced a $2.3 million donation made by local philanthropist Arlene Schnitzer. The funds will facilitate the construction of a three-story glass tower in Lincoln Hall, intended to boost attention for Portland State’s new COTA.

More than 2,200 students currently major in PSU’s arts programs. COTA will host the School of Architecture, School of Art and Design, School of Music, and School of Theatre and Film—all of which used to be small departments.

Jordan Schnitzer spoke at the event in lieu of his mother, who was unable to attend. Both his mother and father attended Lincoln High School, which is now Lincoln Hall.

“My mother, Arlene Schnitzer, was very excited to do something in memory of her late husband, my father, Harold Schnitzer,” Jordan Schnitzer said. “My family has always been very committed to education and especially the arts.”

He said his mother was thrilled to honor his father and felt fortunate to be able to financially assist in the founding of COTA.

“We happened to especially like the visual arts. Portland State’s programs in art, theater, music and opera are fundamental for this university and this community,” Schnitzer said. “This new glass tower is going to help put, visually, the arts program at Portland State on the map.”

Public schools have to navigate a lot of bureaucracy to get major changes approved. Christopher Broderick, the associate vice president for communications at PSU, said that’s what makes the birth of COTA significant.

“They have done a lot of work to fund these programs and have been working on it for years,” Broderick said. “It’s hard to change this stuff. It’s tradition-bound, so it’s a big deal.”