Lafayette Gets $800,000 Arts Grant

has received a $800,000 grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation to support the school's curriculum.

Lafayette says the money will be used for its Global Arts Infusion and Visiting Artists Initiative. It will allow the college to add new arts programs and strengthen existing ones.

"We believe our students' involvement in the artistic process — in the classroom, studio, rehearsal room, concert hall, media laboratory, and many other settings — is fundamental to the goals of a liberal arts education," college President Daniel Weiss said in a news release.

The release said the grant comes at a time when Lafayette is setting new film/media and theater programs at the Williams Center on Third Street. The school is also creating a new faculty-level position, "director of the arts."

Lafayette hopes the grant will allow it to strengthen its relationship with local artists. Earlier this year, the school took called the Art of Urban Environments, which set up public arts exhibits around Easton, some of which .