Potter Hall Art Gallery to be named after longtime MWSU supporter

By Jazmine Knight

The Potter Hall Art Gallery located at Missouri Western State University will soon be named after a longtime supporter of the university.

The gallery will be named after Drew Brown, chair of the Missouri Western Arts Society since 2017. Brown is also known for donating the largest unrestricted gift in Missouri Western history of $1 million back in 2019.

“Unrestricted giving is the most precious sort of giving any institution can receive,” MWSU President Elizabeth Kennedy said in a press release.

Marc Archambault, vice president for advancement and executive director of the MWSU Foundation, said Brown has been a dedicated advocate of the arts.

“He’s been a great supporter of the arts not just in town, but on campus,” said Marc Archambault

Brown, a Philadelphia native, said he first got involved with Missouri Western when he took a course to be an art museum docent. During that time, he took advantage of various programs, tours and lectures. Eventually, the university invited Brown to become a member of the foundation.

“Over the years, I’ve just been afforded a number of opportunities, to further the university’s mission,” Brown said.

Brown is thrilled to have the gallery named in his honor.

“There’s a saying that says, ‘Don’t wait till somebody dies before you send flowers.’ I feel that I get to receive my flowers and I’m still alive,” he said.

Brown, owner of Brown Investments, graduated from North Carolina Central University with bachelor’s degrees in German and biology. In 1966, he was drafted into the U.S Army and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1992. Brown is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College where he earned an equivalent of a master’s degree.

When asked why he made such a large donation, he said his strategy is to make the greatest return on his investment.

“I call what I did a strategic donation,” Brown said. “The university and what it’s able to do for people, in other words, provide them with an education that makes them more capable both economically and socially … that is very meaningful to me.”

Brown is also very heavily involved in the St. Joseph community. He serves as a member on the board of directors for the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, a foundation board member for the Joyce Raye Patterson 50+ Activity Center and he is also a lay Eucharistic minister for Christ Episcopal Church. In his free time, Brown also teaches fitness classes to senior citizens.

“The thing about Drew is, Drew has been all over the world and has success in a variety of different cities,” Archambault said “But when it came to St. Joe, he’s really adopted our community.”

Archambault said Brown is a wonderful person to spend time with. He said he is easy to talk to and alway has a great story or anecdote.

“He’s very humble. One of the things that really caught my attention from all the times I visited with him is how important he thinks philanthropy is,” he said.

Brown is active in various community nonprofits as well as Missouri Western. Even though he is not a graduate of the school, Archambault said his donation will make a great impact on students.

Archambault said unrestricted gifts are really special. Typically most donations are dedicated to a specific cause or purpose. However, with an unrestricted gift, the university is able to use the money in whichever way they please.

“Those kinds of gifts allow us to deal with unexpected opportunities or unexpected challenges,” said Archambault.

The gift is being matched by a MoExcel grant from the state of Missouri. A total of $2.5 million will be going toward an improvement project in Potter Hall.

“That allowed us to double the money available for a project that we thought fit Drew perfectly,” he said. “That project is going to be creating new labs and collaborative spaces for students in Potter Hall to allow them to do new kinds of digital animation, digital cinema, graphic design and music editing.”

For Brown, he is most excited to see more student lounges in Potter Hall.

“If you walk into Potter Hall, the students are sitting on the floor in the hallway. So there’s no collaboration space,” Brown said. “One of the things that my gift will do is provide a classroom and collaboration space and other amenities.”

Brown said these spaces are crucial for creating a more congenial environment for what students are trying to accomplish.

Archambault said Brown always talks about the arts and always ends conversations with, “and the most important thing is making sure those students get good careers.”

“It’s the perfect project that brings together creativity, the arts and great careers for students,” Archambault said.

The project is currently in the planning phase. Missouri Western expects work to begin this fall and hopes students can begin using the new amenities starting summer 2025.

The MWSU Foundation also commissioned a bust of Brown to be placed in the Potter Hall lobby. The bust was made by Leila Hicks, a Missouri Western alumna who graduated with her second degree in art. The bust was created during a sculpture class taught by Eric Fuson, the current executive director of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art.

Brown encourages the community to consider making an impact by donating to the university.

“Donations there will have a long-range impact,” he said.