Haslam 3 Foundation Awards $4.5 Million to Arts Organizations

10/31/2020

The Knoxville-based Haslam 3 Foundation has awarded grants totaling $4.5 million in support of arts education programs in Cleveland, cleveland.com reports.

The gift from Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam will support programming offered by three regional anchor institutions — Playhouse Square, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Playhouse Square was awarded $1 million to expand its free Disney Musicals in Schools afterschool program — a program designed to boost students' self-esteem, strengthen their communications skills, and build positive relationships among students, faculty, staff, and parents through musical theater — in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will receive $2.5 million to launch the Haslam Scholars initiative and, through the initiative, provide free admission and classroom instruction to Cleveland Metropolitan School District K-12 students through its Rockin' the Schools program. And the Cleveland Orchestra was awarded $1 million in support of its education and community programs, which annually reach thousands of residents of Northeast Ohio.

"Education is one of our priorities," said Dee Haslam. "I went to the Disney program and saw how engaged the kids were and the families were. You can see how it brings the families together. We know that engaged students are more likely to go to school, they’re going to be more successful because we believe that through sports, so it made sense for us to support Playhouse Square."