The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Farrow Museum of Art, named after its latest donors, will serve as a teaching and cultural resource for UCD students, faculty and staff when it is completed in 2015. The 40,000-square-foot museum will house the university’s more than 4,000 works of art, which includes pieces by former art department faculty such as Wayne Thiebaud, Robert Arneson, Roy De Forest and William T. Wiley.

“The museum will build upon the university’s long tradition of excellence in the arts, serve as a source of rich learning opportunities for our students, and provide inspiration to generations of artists,” said Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi. “We are very grateful for this extraordinary commitment and for Jan and Maria’s vision and partnership in the creation of a museum of the art at UC Davis.”

The museum will be designed by architect Michael Graves and built on a 1.6-acre site near the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, the UC Davis Conference Center and Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. Hall, home of the university’s Graduate School of Management.

The $10 million contribution will cover one-third of the total building costs and allow the university to begin the design phase. Another $15 million will come from private philanthropic gifts.

The school will not use student tuition, fees or state funds for construction of the museum. UC Davis plans to raise between $5 million and $20 million in additional private gifts for the museum, including an endowment to support museum programs.

The $10 million gift is one of the largest the university has ever received for the arts.

Donor Manetti Farrow is a grower and collector of fine wines and produces premium balsamic vinegar and award-winning olive oils served at some of the finest restaurants in the country.

“Both Jan and I came to this country as young people, more or less the same age as the students at UC Davis,” Farrow said. “And we both remember what it was like to begin life all over again in a new world, where education was our salvation and the arts were our greatest joy. Everything that is being planned for the new museum of art suggests it will become an integral part of the university, the curriculum and the community. We also believe it will become the heart of the campus, a place where people can come to study, to learn, to look and to be moved by the beauty and strength of the arts.”

The museum could fuel new academic programs for students at the school, such as museum studies, curatorial and preservation studies, and house an archive of artists’ papers and materials for future study, said Jessie Ann Owens, dean of UC Davis’ Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies.

“A university museum will allow students to experience works of art first-hand in a way that is not possible with reproductions,” said Wayne Thiebaud, professor emeritus of the arts at UC Davis. “It is this kind of experience that is essential to the university’s teaching mission. As a teacher, I am delighted to know that this gift will make the museum a reality.”

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Luskin, who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from UCLA in 1949, is passionate about the school’s role as a public resource and agent for social mobility.

The gift from the couple will go toward academic programs and capital improvements and will be equally divided between the UCLA School of Public Affairs and the construction of a residential conference center that will further dialogue between scholars, government and business leaders, and the public at large, the school reported.

About $50 million of the donation will go towards the building of conference center that will feature 33,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, at least 282 guest rooms and a new faculty club. The center will replace the existing faculty center, a 50-year old structure in need of costly repairs, according to reports.

Officials from the school say the existing faculty center has served the campus well but no longer meets contemporary requirements for conferences and symposia.

“I am humbled and inspired by the extraordinary generosity of Meyer and Renee Luskin,” said Chancellor Gene Block. “The Luskins are helping to ensure UCLA’s continued leadership as a public university dedicated to developing new knowledge and helping to address both today’s and tomorrow’s most pressing policy and scientific challenges."

Luskin, who used to commute to UCLA from Boyle Heights, is president, CEO and chairman of Scope Industries, which began as a diversified company that is now exclusively an animal-feed product manufacturer. The company recycles bakery waste to make an animal-feed ingredient

The 85-year-old Luskin said a $30 scholarship allowed him to continue his UCLA studies, which were interrupted by his military service in World War II, when he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
 
"The multidisciplinary education I received at UCLA has helped me immeasurably in business, whether it’s organizational, management or philosophical issues, and I am eternally grateful," he said.

Luskin met his wife Renee while she was a UCLA student. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1953, according to the school.

After completing his bachelor’s degree at UCLA, Meyer Luskin earned an M.B.A. from Stanford University in 1951.
 
“I live and work in the region and wanted to give back in a creative and unique way that helps UCLA to continue its important work with the broader community,” Luskin said. “In addition to educating students, providing them a way to improve their lives, and conducting research, UCLA should apply faculty expertise to help address our society’s biggest issues, and I am appreciative of being able to contribute to those ends.”

Franklin D. Gilliam Jr., dean of the School of Public Affairs, noted that the school also  houses the Luskin Center for Innovation, funded by support from the Luskins in 2008. The center works closely with elected officials and nonprofit, business and community leaders to develop solutions to important policy challenges.

“Our students and faculty and the community at large deserve a first-class conference facility befitting UCLA’s stature as a top public research university,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh. “Hosting scholars from around the world and engaging with the community to address leading problems require modern facilities and overnight accommodations for participants.”
 
Waugh said the conference facility and new faculty club are important tools in attracting and retaining top researchers. The project, which is tentatively scheduled to begin in the spring of 2012, is pending approval by the University of California Board of Regents. The project will use no state funding.

Both the school and the residential conference center will be named after the Luskins. A naming ceremony for the School of Public Affairs is scheduled for March 18.

 “UCLA is among the greatest universities in the world, and it gave me my start,” Luskin said. “It’s essential that I give back so that others can enjoy the same benefits.”

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