CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A few days after UVA leaders celebrated Sept. 18 reaching new funding milestones for the long-planned UVA Center for the Arts, Jody Kielbasa, UVA Vice Provost for the Arts and Virginia Film Festival Executive Director, told sponsors and supporters at the 39th annual VAFF program announcement the center is ramping up for the next four years.

“In 2030 we will open our new Center for the Arts and we have to build to get there,” Kielbasa told the cheering crowd Thursday night at The Paramount. “And, by the way, we’re never abandoning this stunning movie palace.”

“It just means more films, more opportunities for the festival because we’re going to be in both places, and really the Downtown Mall is going to continue to be the hub but we’re going to have a second place as well,” Kielbasa said. “We need your help getting there and it’s going to take some time, but as you can see with this incredible lineup (announced Thursday night) we’re really on our way to building to that point.”

On Sept. 18, UVA President Scott Beardsley, along with Kielbasa, Board of Visitors members and others, were on hand for the announcement of a $205 million appropriation from the state. The funding was approved in the 2026 General Assembly session last winter. The center also received an additional $70 million gift from the Tessa Ader Marital Trust upon her death in January, directed by trustees Joseph Erdman, Brian Potts, and Charles D. Fox IV.

That’s in addition to the $60 million lead gift Ader and her husband, Richard, committed five years ago, Kielbasa told Cville Right Now.

“Through the Center for the Arts, UVA will get a front-row seat to artistic talent from all over the world. This incredible place will benefit the arts scene throughout the commonwealth and especially the Charlottesville community,” Beardsley said on Sept. 18. “We thank the Aders and the commonwealth for this beautiful addition to UVA’s Grounds.”

“The single appropriation from the state in history to UVA now joins the single largest philanthropic gift for a single capital project at the University of Virginia,” said Kielbasa.

The center, scheduled to open in 2030, will include the Tessa and Richard Ader Performing Arts Center, a 1,200-seat performing arts hall. In addition, there will be a 150-seat recital hall for chamber music and other performances, an experimental art space, and both the Fralin Museum of Art and the Kluge-Ruhe Art Collection will come together as University Museums under one roof. Both will keep their distinct identities but greatly expand their galleries and educational opportunities, said Kielbasa.

The two museums currently occupy about 18,000 square feet of space. Kielbasa said that will expand to 65,000 square feet in the new building which brings in multiple opportunities to bring in touring exhibitions.

“About 97% of the total collection that the university has for both Fralin and Kluge-Ruhe are in storage and not always available at any given time because there’s just not the room for them,” said Kielbasa. “This will allow to expand and rotate in more of the collection for the general public and for our students and faculty to see and for study as well.”

That twofold benefit is what State Sen. Creigh Deeds said motivated the large state contribution.

“The UVA Center for the Arts has been a long time coming,” Deeds told Cville Right Now. “Primed by generous donations to the University, I was proud to support state funding to make this facility a reality. The Center will enhance the academic and cultural environment of the University and the community.”

Kielbasa said the state-of-the-art facility will host everything from Broadway dance shows to symphonies to film.

“You name it, we’ll be able to do it there,” said Kielbasa. “We have one of the top acoustical engineering firms in the world coming in because this is located only 40 yards from train tracks. But, guess what, Carnegie Hall in New York City is over the top of the subway, so that can be done.”

Board members also saluted Joe Erdman, a 1956 College of Arts & Sciences graduate who has for decades advocated for the arts at UVA. Erdman and Richard Ader were co-trustees of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, which has facilitated numerous gifts to support the arts on Grounds. Erdman also played a key role in Tessa Ader’s most recent commitment to the project, according to UVA Today.

Along with the Aders, Erdman has championed spaces where the University and local communities can gather and enjoy theater, music, film, opera and museum exhibitions.

“Tessa and Richard would be thrilled to know that their passion for the arts continues to move this wonderful project closer to reality,” he said. “I look forward to seeing UVA have a world-class Center for the Arts.”

At UVA, the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation has supported The Fralin, the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia, the Virginia Theatre Festival, the President’s Speaker Series for the Arts, University Singers and the Virginia Film Festival, among others.

Tessa and Richard Ader served as honorary members of the advisory board for The Fralin. Tessa Ader also established the Richard M. and Tessa G. Ader Endowed Fund for Music Education at the University of Virginia in support of the Charlottesville Symphony. She also created the Ader Emerging Artist program at the Charlottesville Opera, which provides early-career opera singers with professional experience.