TULSA, Okla. — As part of ongoing growth, Oral Roberts University is building a new media arts center on its campus.
The university announced the name of the center at a special luncheon on Thursday.
ORU's President Dr. Billy Wilson said the new facility will be named the Peggy V. Helmerich Media Arts Center. The name of the building pays honor to Peggy Helmerich who is a philanthropist, artist, and prize Tulsan.
Helmerich worked in film and television in the early 1950s before retiring to marry Tulsa oil driller Walter Helmerich. The couple made Tulsa home and Peggy Helmerich became a patron of the arts and libraries in the community. The announcement surprised her at the luncheon:
Wilson said it will provide students with new state-of-the-art technology, a digital production studio, a 450-seat auditorium, a music performance hall, and a black box theater.
"We want our graduates to be on Broadway, we want them to be in film, we want them to be performing some of the best musical pieces in the world and dancing on some of the greatest stages around the world and producing the behind-the-scenes for all of that and some we're very excited about this new facility that's sort of a convergence base bringing the arts together to make maximum impact in our generation."
ORU plans to open the new media arts center next summer. More on the new building can be found here.
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