Shirley Temple Black's family give large donation to Oscars new museum
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced today (Thursday, October 8, 2015) in a press release, that the family of the late Oscar-winning child actress Shirley Temple Black has given the Academy a gift valued at more than $5 million. This gift includes key artifacts from Temple's career as a child film star and a financial donation to the Academy of Motion Pictures' capital campaign. In recognition of this valuable gift, the Oscars Museum has named its education center as The Shirley Temple Education Studio.
“Shirley Temple Black captivated audiences as an actor and her work as a diplomat touched countless lives,” said Bob Iger, who is chairing the Academy Museum’s capital campaign along with co-chairs Annette Bening and Tom Hanks. “Her gift to the Academy Museum ensures her work will continue to inspire future generations of film lovers.”
According to the Academy, The Shirley Temple Education Studio will be the center of the Museum's vibrant education program, which will draw upon the expertise of Academy members, scholars, and artists in a range of disciplines to investigate cinema history and the mutual process of film-making. The program will offer hands-on workshops in movie-making techniques, as well as encourage creativity and critical thinking. A focal point of the program will be its teen initiative, serving students from various backgrounds in the greater Los Angeles area.
“Our mother believed that the Academy Museum project will provide the key to broader public understanding both of the movie industry’s history and of its future,” said the Black family. “We are so pleased with the Academy’s naming of the Shirley Temple Education Studio, and again encourage our mother’s many admirers to join us in supporting the Museum and its new Education Studio with a donation honoring her memory.”
The key artifacts donated to the museum include: the juvenile Oscar presented to Shirley Temple at the 1934 Academy Awards in recognition of her screen work that year (only 12 juvenile Oscars were presented in the history of the Oscars and Temple's was the first); the portable wooden practice-steps given to her by renowned dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson for their famed stair dance routine in 1934's “The Little Colonel,” her iconic tap shoes; the star’s first set-chair presented to her by Fox Studios; and the elaborate Los Angeles public-school system desk she used for her daily lessons on the Fox lot.
“We know Academy Museum visitors will be elated to see these treasures,” said Kerry Brougher, Academy Museum director. “This generous gift is a significant addition to our collection. The Shirley Temple Education Studio will provide students with opportunities to build meaningful connections with the finest creative minds in filmmaking today.”
The Academy is in the process of raising $388 million to support the building, exhibitions, and programs of the Academy Museum. The capital campaign was launched in 2012 and is chaired by Bob Iger and co-chaired by Tom Hanks and Annette Bening. The Academy has already secured more than $250 million in pledges from more than 1,300 individual donors worldwide.