Providence Country Day School Celebrates Opening of Suzanne Young Murray Arts Center

The 12,000-square-foot facility brings PCD’s visual arts, music, and theater programs together in one dedicated space designed to give students new opportunities to create, perform, collaborate, and explore the arts.

“This will be a place where students discover talents they didn’t know they had. A place where they will paint, perform, create, experiment, take risks, and find their voices. There will be opening nights and final bows, first sketches and finished works. And probably plenty of mistakes along the way. That is what learning, and art, are all about,” shared Head of School Kevin Folan. “And that makes Suzanne’s name so fitting for this building. Her belief in young people, her passion for learning, and her love of the arts have had a lasting impact on PCD. Now, her legacy will live on through the creativity, curiosity, and joy of generations of students who will make this space their own.”

The Suzanne Young Murray Arts Center features a 700-square-foot art gallery that opens into a 2,100-square-foot theater, which will serve as the home of the PCD Players. Designed to support both theater and musical performances, the theater will also function as a versatile gathering and meeting space for students and faculty. The building also includes new classrooms for visual arts and music, along with a dedicated maker space.

With the arts programs now housed in one dedicated facility, Providence Country Day has also created additional academic classroom space in Metcalf and Lund Halls, supporting the school’s growing enrollment while maintaining its hallmark small class sizes.

The building is named in honor of Suzanne Young Murray following the largest philanthropic gift in Providence Country Day School’s history. Suzanne and her family have a deep, multigenerational connection to PCD. Suzanne attended the Henry Barnard School, while her husband, Terry Murray Sr. ’58, her son, Terry Murray Jr. ’85, and her grandson, Kevin “Joe” McNamara ’16, all attended PCD. Suzanne’s daughter, Paula McNamara, serves on the school’s Board of Trustees.

“Our mom would be delighted that PCD has a brand new, stunning arts building where current PCD students and students to come will draw, paint, sculpt, perform, and so much more. Magic will be happening inside these walls for years to come,” said McNamara. “She would be thrilled to be a forever part of this cherished school.”

“I know that the students of Providence Country Day will make full use of the center. I’ve seen  firsthand the tremendous artistic ability that can be found here,” said Senator Jack Reed, a friend of the Murray family. “Going forward, generations of Providence Country Day students will have the opportunity to create beauty, find meaning and learn lifelong skills here in the Suzanne Young Murray Art Center.”

The Suzanne Young Murray Arts Center is a cornerstone of Providence Country Day’s Centennial Campaign, announced by Head of School Kevin Folan during PCD’s Centennial Gala in June 2024. The Centennial Campaign is the first comprehensive campaign in school history, with targeted goals of $1.5 million for endowment, $5 million in unrestricted gifts, and $8.5 million for capital projects.

The new Arts Center provides PCD students with dedicated spaces to develop their artistic interests and talents while adding capacity elsewhere on campus to support the school’s continued growth.