News

William Paterson Receives $600,000 Pledge from Shanghai William Chinese Art Foundation

The gift to the University’s Center for Chinese Art will support its mission of promoting understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture and art

President Kathleen Waldron and Zhipeng Ding, Chair, Shanghai William Chinese Art Foundation

William Paterson University’s Center for Chinese Art, one of the country’s premier centers for the appreciation of Chinese art, has received a $600,000 pledge from the Shanghai William Chinese Art Foundation in Shanghai, China.

The Shanghai William Chinese Art Foundation was created to further enhance American understanding of Chinese art and culture.  The gift to the University’s Center for Chinese Art will support its mission of promoting understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture and art through a variety of programs, including master artist exchanges, exhibitions in the William Paterson University Galleries featuring important Chinese artists, and programs such as lectures and cultural events. 

"It is a great honor to formalize the relationship established between the Shanghai William Chinese Foundation and William Paterson University,” says President Kathleen Waldron. “We are so grateful to our new generous benefactors and partners, Ms. Ching Yiu, Mr. Zhipeng Ding, Mr. Shengzhan Ding, and the Shanghai William Chinese Art Foundation. Through their commitment we will be able to provide more programs and continue to invite important Chinese artists to share their knowledge and culture with our students, faculty, and community.” 

Daryl Moore, dean of the University’s College of the Arts and Communication, says the gift will provide an opportunity for the Center to expand its activities. “This gift provides us with the potential to develop new programs and to strengthen the relationship between the higher education and arts communities here and in China,” says Moore.  “We are excited to continue and enhance the Center’s programs, which promote and celebrate Chinese art and culture.” 

Zhipeng Ding and Shengzhen Ding, who are brothers, hail from the same town in China as Zhiyuan Cong, a master painter and printmaker who is a William Paterson professor of art and the founding director of the Center for Chinese Art.  “Professor Cong is an internationally known and respected artist and educator dedicated to promoting China’s rich artistic culture,” Moore continues.  “The Ding brothers are committed to the ongoing support of his important work for the Center.”

The Center for Chinese Art at William Paterson University was founded in 2009 with generous funding from Margaret Lam and David Yen. Students not only have the opportunity to view Chinese art, but draw upon its philosophy and incorporate its techniques in order to participate effectively in the increasingly global world of visual arts. The Center, which is part of the University’s College of the Arts and Communication, has hosted many world-renowned artists, including Yang Xiaoyang, president of the China National Academy of Painting, Wu Weishan, president of the Academy of Chinese Sculpture, and Yu Xiaofu, dean of fine arts at College of Shanghai Normal University, and a well-known Chinese contemporary painter, as well as visiting artists from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, National Printmaking College and Shanghai Liu Haisu Art Museum of China in connection with exhibitions and symposiums on master drawings, printmaking, and Chinese opera painting.