Janet Q. Lawson and Frederick Q. Lawson have donated $2.4 million to the 2002 Cultural Olympiad, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee announced Tuesday.
The donation will help underwrite three commissioned programs performed by Ballet West, the Utah Opera and the Utah Symphony during the 2002 Cultural Olympiad, part of the Olympic Arts Festival that will run concurrently with the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
"Support of both skiing and the arts has been a defining principle of our family from our father's development of Alta as a significant ski destination to his participation on the board of the Utah Symphony," said Janet Lawson, daughter of S.J. Quinney, the namesake of the Joe Quinney Winter Sports Center at the Utah Olympic Park, in a written statement.
"As a company, we are deeply grateful to Rick and Janet Lawson for their generous contribution," said Ballet West executive director Johann Jacobs. "Audiences worldwide will experience first hand the high-caliber arts organizations present in Salt Lake City."
Ballet West will present a program featuring highlights from the company's repertory on Feb. 23, 2002, in the Capitol Theatre.
The other programs include the Utah Opera's performance of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" on Feb. 5, 2002, in the Capitol Theatre, and a concert by Elaine Paige, England's "First Lady of Musical Theatre," with the Utah Symphony and music director Keith Lockhart on Feb. 15 and 16, 2002, in Abravanel Hall.