The IUP Performing Arts Center, opened in September 2008, is a truly grand space on the IUP campus.
A variety of opportunities exist for contributing to the Lively Arts at IUP. We invite you to look at the Premiere Club for individuals contributing from $100 up to $5,000 and above. We also provide special opportunities for businesses and corporations that wish to sponsor certain major performances over the year.
Take Your Seat
We continue to offer naming opportunities for Fisher Auditorium and the Performing Arts Center, including our popular “Take Your Seat” campaign, where donors receive acknowledgment by an engraved plaque on a seat in the auditorium.
With your contribution, which includes an engraved plaque on a seat, thousands of patrons who visit Fisher Auditorium throughout the many years to come will see that name and the support it represents.
With your pledge of $500 per seat or $5,000 for an entire row, your name, your company name, or the name of someone you wish to honor will be engraved on a brass plaque and attached to a seat in Fisher Auditorium. And now, we are offering seats in the balcony for only $300 per seat, $3,000 for a full row.
In addition to the engraved plaque, the name or names you give us will be listed on a sign in the Performing Arts Center to recognize all donors contributing to the renovation and remodeling of the PAC.
Please note that having a sponsored seat does not guarantee sitting in that seat for performances.
Make It a Gift
Naming a seat or some other special area of the Performing Arts Center is a perfect way to remember or recognize a special person or group. It is a great and unforgettable way to mark a birthday, anniversary, or special occasion. The person you specify will receive a special gift acknowledgement.
How to Take Your Seat
You can take your seat online and pay for it on our secure payment site. Once you reach this site, enter your information in the Designation Option and select “Take Your Seat in Fisher.” Your donation to the Take Your Seat campaign may be paid in up to four installments. Other payment options can be arranged by emailing us at lively-arts@iup.edu.
If you prefer, you can download the Take Your Seat form,* fill it out, and send it in.
*File is archived and is no longer being updated. It may not meet accessibility standards. To request content in an accessible format, please contact web-team@up.edu.
Giving Online
If you would like to give to the Lively Arts online, simply go the IUP GiveAGift secure website.
Under the “I would like to support” header, the first item will be Lively Arts. Enter your amount there and continue completing the online form. After you complete the form and submit it, someone from Annual Giving or the Lively Arts will contact you within two weeks if there is any further information we may need.
Information about categories and amounts of support are available for the Premiere Club page and Business and Corporate Giving.
Hosting a Performance
This opportunity, specially designed for organizations and small businesses, is available for most Lively Arts events, including Ovations and, through special arrangement, for Theater-by-the-Grove, Dance Theater, Sound Progressions, University Museum, and Kipp Gallery.
$500
- Event assigned based on host preference and other commitments
- Insert in program as provided by host (max 8.5" x 5.5", due one week prior to event)
- Host line in program and all print advertising and website
- Simple audience post-show refreshments (e.g., fruit drink, cookies, or similar; food upgrade possible, at cost)
- Host provides up to six people to assist with ushering and provide staffed information table/s (no sales permitted) from one hour prior to the performance until approximately 30 minutes following
$1,000
- Event assigned based on host preference and other commitments
- Insert in program as provided by host (max 8.5" x 5.5", due one week prior to event)
- Quarter-page ad in all season programs if confirmed by September 1
- Host line in program and all print advertising and website
- Enhanced audience post-show refreshments (e.g., fruit punch, tea cookies, or similar; food upgrade possible, at cost)
- Organization or business provides up to six people to assist with ushering and provide staffed information table/s (no sales permitted) from one hour prior to the performance until approximately 30 minutes following
Ovations Sponsors and Partners
The Lively Arts is supported, in part, through the support of business and organizational sponsors, grants, and special gifts.
Interested in becoming a sponsor for the Ovations series?
Please contact the Lively Arts at 724-357-2787 (ARTS) or lively-arts@iup.edu if you have any questions.
Premiere Club
When you become a member of the Premiere Club or renew your charter membership from the past season, you assist the Lively Arts in presenting IUP’s premier performing arts series, Ovations, and you show your support for the cultural vitality of central Pennsylvania.
Becoming a Member
To become a member, download the Premiere Club membership form* and send it in. If we receive your membership or renewal by July 1, you will receive a subscription order form in advance of the general public. You may also join by giving online.
Crew: Under $100
- Regular e-Letter, season brochure, and regular notifications of upcoming events for the Lively Arts
- Name acknowledged in each performance series program
- Advance notification through email and letter about next year’s performance series season
Performer: $100+
All of the above, plus
- Special donor and subscriber hotline to purchase additional tickets to single events prior to availability to the general public
- Invitation to social events such as Museum Gala, receptions, announcement events, exhibit openings, and other special activities throughout the year
Designer: $250+
All of the above, plus
- Priority seating in advance of the general subscribers
- Invitation to specially planned open residency activities by the artist, such as master classes, open rehearsals, school visits, and others, dependent upon artist and host obligations
- Invitation to private receptions with the performing artist (up to three events per year, dependent upon artist contract obligations)
Conductor: $500+
Designer-level benefits, plus
- Two complimentary vouchers to any other Lively Arts series event for the season, such as Sound Choices, Theater-by-the-Grove, Dance Theater, or Music Theater
Director: $1,250+
Designer-level benefits, plus
- Two complimentary season subscriptions to Ovations, IUP’s premier performing artist series
- Name displayed prominently throughout the season on a sign in the main lobby of the IUP Performing Arts Center
Producer: $2,500+
Designer-level benefits, lobby signage, plus
- Two complimentary Totally Everything season subscriptions, in addition to your new performance series package, to include tickets to Sound Choices, Theater-by-the-Grove, Dance Theater, and Music Theater
- Invitation for two to a special dinner with the dean of Fine Arts and other special guests from the College of Arts, Humanities, Media, and Public Affairs and IUP, as well as other similarly significant contributors to the Lively Arts
Executive Producer: $5,000+
Producer-level benefits, plus
- Invitation to meet an artist backstage, choice by the donor, dependent upon those available through contractual obligations
- Performance by an advanced IUP student music soloist or small ensemble to perform at your private event, schedule as mutually agreed
- Name permanently engraved on a seat plaque in Fisher Auditorium (additional plaques available at $500 each)
*File is archived and is no longer being updated. It may not meet accessibility standards. To request content in an accessible format, please contact web-team@up.edu.
Business and Corporate Giving
Here are some examples of what we are able to provide to businesses and corporations that wish to sponsor either a specific event or a series of events. All benefits are suggestions and can be adapted so that they best meet the needs of the sponsor.
$10,000+
- Sign in the lobby acknowledging sponsorship
- Half-page black and white advertisement in all Ovations programs, due by September 1
- Logo in season brochure (if committed prior to June 1), in all print ads, and in print marketing pieces at readable size and appropriate acknowledgement on website
- Invitation for any special receptions, activities, etc., related to event, season, and other Lively Arts activities
- Invitation to a special dinner with the dean and other special guests from the College of Arts, Humanities, Media, and Public Affairs and IUP, as well as other similarly significant contributors to the Lively Arts
- Two complimentary Totally Everything season subscriptions, to include tickets to Ovations, Sound Choices, Theater-by-the-Grove, Dance Theater, and Music Theater
$18,000+
All of the above, plus
- Upgrade to full-page black and white advertisement in all Ovations programs
- First right, based on contracting and funding level, of selection for performance host (includes insert in program, host line in all advertising and website, and simple audience post-show refreshments (upgradeable at additional cost, no sales permitted)
$25,000 and above
- Upgrade full-page ad to full-color advertisement in all Ovations programs
- In addition to the above benefits, package to be custom developed to address your specific interests and needs, which could include targeted programming, endowment designation, scholarship funds, outreach services, and others; renewable or ongoing naming opportunities may be considered
- Performance by an advanced IUP student soloist or small ensemble to perform at your private event, schedule as mutually agreed
Sole Sponsorship
- We have a variety of opportunities for businesses to become the sole sponsors for an event, ranging in amounts from $8,000 to $45,000, providing significant enhanced exposure for the sponsor. Those interested should contact Kristen Koehler at kristen.koehler@iup.edu to set up a meeting to discuss a specially designed package of sponsorship benefits.
More Information
- If you would like more information or are interested in setting up a meeting to discuss sponsorship possibilities, please contact Kristen Koehler at 724-357-2547 or email kristen.koehler@iup.edu. You may also submit your gift online.
The Wilfred E. Helwig Distinguished Artist Program
The Wilfred E. Helwig Distinguished Artist Endowment was established in 1987 by Florence Lattimer Helwig in memory of her late husband.
Helwig Distinguished Artists have included Itzhak Perlman, Richard Stoltzman, Hal Holbrook, Andre Watts, Brian Bedford, Dave Brubeck, Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, Doc Severinsen, Chita Rivera, Billy Taylor, Peter Nero, Rosemary Clooney, Olivia Newton-John, Roger Williams, Amy Grant, Marvin Hamlisch, and Bernadette Peters (pictured below with Florence L. Helwig and a group of music and theater students in May 2012). In March 2013, the Helwig Endowment also provided support for the appearance of opera star Renée Fleming.
On September 16, 2014, previous Helwig Distinguished Artist Doc Severisen returned to help the Lively Arts kick off its twenty-fifth anniversary season and celebrate the long history of the Helwig Distinguished Artist program.
The 2017–18 Wilfred E. Helwig Distinguished Artist will be legendary performer of stage, film, and television, Ben Vereen. He will perform a one-of-a-kind performance on May 3, 2018. During that time, we will also celebrate the life of Florence L. Helwig.
Wilfred E. Helwig (pictured above), Indiana businessman and philanthropist, founded the Helwig Insurance Agency in Indiana in 1928. During his long and successful career, Helwig energetically participated in area civic, safety, and charitable organizations, actively supporting the Community Chest (now the United Way), the Indiana County YMCA, the Shrine Crippled Children’s Hospital and Burn Institutes, the Children’s Home for the Blind in Pittsburgh, and the Penn’s Woods Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He was a charter member of the IUP President’s Council.
Florence Lattimer Helwig, a native of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, carried on her late husband’s philanthropic work in the Indiana community and in her winter home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she was a member of the Fort Lauderdale Opera Society, the Florida Symphony Association, and the Broward Friends of the Miami Ballet. In Indiana, she actively supported the university as a charter and continuing member of the President’s Council and as a major benefactor through the endowment that supports the Helwig Artist program.
She was an engaged and energetic supporter of the Indiana Symphony Series, the YMCA, the Indiana Arts Council, Four Footed Friends, Indiana County Humane Society, and many other Indiana County charitable organizations. She was a recipient of the Distinguished Patron of the Performing Arts Award from the Indiana Symphony Society for “long-term, consistent active support to the furtherance of the performing arts in Indiana.” In 2000, she was awarded the President’s Medal of Distinction, IUP’s highest non-degree honor. She passed away in October 2015.
Wilfred E. Helwig Distinguished Artist Performances
- Itzhak Perlman, December 12, 1988
- Richard Stoltzman, October 19, 1989
- Hal Holbrook, April 16, 1991
- Andre Watts, April 2, 1992
- Brian Bedford, February 23, 1993
- Dave Brubeck. March 22, 1994
- Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, October 26, 1994
- Doc Severinsen, October 31, 1995
- Chita Rivera, November 13, 1996
- Billy Taylor, February 25, 1998
- Peter Nero, October 13, 1998
- Rosemary Clooney, October 17, 2000
- Olivia Newton-John, October 26, 2003
- Roger Williams, October 10, 2004
- Amy Grant, April 8, 2006
- Marvin Hamlisch, October 5, 2009
- Bernadette Peters, May 4, 2012
- Doc Severinsen (reprise), September 16, 2014
- And support for Renée Fleming, March 2, 2013