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Chad Loar, PNC Regional President for West and Central Florida
Sponsored Report
PNC Building Stronger Communities Through the Arts
Tampa Bay’s thriving arts scene offers a variety of entertainment options for its residents and visitors, but these cultural amenities also serve as a catalyst for community well-being and economic growth.
PNC, one of the largest diversified financial institutions in the United States, views supporting the arts as an opportunity to build stronger, more vibrant communities.
Nationally, the PNC Foundation has awarded nearly $20 million in grants to visual and performing arts organizations through its Arts Alive initiative, which debuted in 2009. Since expanding to Tampa Bay in 2011, PNC has also invested more than $1.25 million in local arts organizations, including The Dalí Museum, Glazer Children’s Museum, Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg, Straz Center for the Performing Arts, and the Tampa Museum of Art.
Learning Through the Arts
In January 2023, PNC Bank pledged $500,000 for a new education center at the Tampa Museum of Art. The investment will help grow education and exhibition programming at the PNC Family Classroom and Gallery, a 1,680 sq. ft. space located in the museum’s renovated and expanded Vinik Family Education Center.
The museum currently serves approximately 14,000 children, teens and adults through on- and off-site education programs across Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay region. With renovations now complete, the number of students served each year is expected to quadruple by the end of 2024.
“Exposure to art in any form provides creative and imaginative benefits for all,” said Chad Loar, PNC regional president for West and Central Florida. “But for children, the arts also promote learning and development, which creates a roadmap to success that aligns with their core education. We’re excited to help lay this foundation for the kids in our community.”
Access for All
The PNC Foundation has also supported Museums for All at the Tampa Museum of Art. The program encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum-going habits by providing free admission to individuals and families receiving food assistance (SNAP) benefits.
“PNC has long been generously invested in the success of the Tampa Museum of Art,” said Michael Tomor, Ph.D., the Penny and Jeff Vinik executive director of the Tampa Museum of Art. “We appreciate their commitment to the arts and providing our residents with access to these critical cultural resources.”
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through PNC Grow Up Great®, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. For more information, visit http://www.pncgrowupgreat.com.
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