Concordia University has received a $5.6M donation for scholarships and awards for fine arts students - the largest gift in Quebec history towards a university-based fine arts faculty.
The money from the Peter N. Thomson Family Trust will go towards graduate scholarships, awards funding cultural trips abroad and a fund for large-scale, signature projects.
Thomson, who died in 2011, was a Montreal native who inherited the original Power Corporation of Canada, co-founded by his father.
Thomson's stepdaughter works in Montreal and as one of the family members entrusted with recommending a worthy recipient, she chose Concordia based on its fine arts reputation and how it matches her father's wishes to donate his money to deserving students and emerging artists.
"I think he would be very proud, excited and honoured to be associated with Concordia and to fund and support the emerging artists who are going to come from this program and hopefully to create a world where the choice of a Fine Arts degree is one to be valued and proud of," said Leslie Raenden in an interview with CJAD 800.