Robert Allen \u201908 has achieved something that many people only dream of \u2014 he\u2019s made it to Broadway. You won\u2019t see him under the spotlight, though. He is a sound engineer, working on various Broadway and off-Broadway productions, sometimes traveling with touring companies, to make the performers on stage sound amazing for their audiences.
\nAllen graduated in performing arts with a concentration in audio technology, but he had been attending programs at Clemson\u2019s Brooks Center for the Performing Arts for years before enrolling at Clemson.
\nAllen was one of the thousands of children who file into the seats at the Brooks Center every year to enjoy performances of classical music, children\u2019s plays, dance and more, made possible by the Bill and Donna Eskridge Tri-ART Series.
\n\u201cI think Tri-ART\u2019s primary influence would have to be the creation of a \u2018comfort zone\u2019 with the performing arts,\u201d said Allen. \u201cIf it weren\u2019t for my early exposure to theater, I may have shied away from studying at the Brooks Center and pursuing a career in the arts.\u201d
\nThat\u2019s the kind of impact Bill and Donna Eskridge wanted to have when they decided to endow the Tri-ART program. The couple were introduced to the Brooks Center shortly after retiring to Lake Keowee in 1993. After learning about the Tri-ART program and its funding needs, they decided to support it by creating an endowment. They have also decided to include the program in their estate plans, to ensure that it will continue\u00a0to inspire children for generations.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s probably the best investment we\u2019ve ever made,\u201d Bill said. \u201cI have a framed quote at home that says, \u2018A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or the kind of car I drove \u2026 but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.\u2019 That\u2019s the significance of the Tri-ART program, and why we wanted to support it.\u201d
\nEach year, the Brooks Center hosts 18 Tri-ART programs, with an annual attendance of about 13,000 children. Children are able to attend the programs for $2, and some programs are free.
\n\u201cThere is nowhere else in this country where children can see events of this quality for just $2,\u201d said Lillian \u201cMickey\u201d Harder, director of the Brooks Center. \u201cWe are enriching the lives of thousands of children, and Bill and Donna Eskridge have made that happen.\u201d
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