View, the new arts center in Old Forge, has announced the receipt of a generous gift from the Bob and Ellie Cohen family.
The Cohen family has graciously stepped forward with a pledge, and a challenge, to match donated funds to insure that the workshop wing of View will be known as the “Meyda Tiffany & Lighting Creative Arts Wing.”
Any and all funds donated toward the naming of the wing will be matched three-to-one by the Cohen family in an attempt to reach the $500,000 goal.
The wing houses a large pottery studio with electric and gas kilns, a glazing booth, clay recycling and hand building areas; a multi-purpose workshop for painting, jewelry, wood working and children’s classes; as well as a teaching kitchen.
Helping to name the creative arts wing honors the Cohen family’s early arts and crafts roots in the Town of Webb.
In the mid-1970’s, Meyda Tiffany was founded when Meyer Cohen was asked by his wife Ida (whose names were combined into the company name Meyda) to build a stained glass window in the kitchen of their home in Old Forge.
What began as a hobby evolved into America’s leading and oldest manufacturer of custom and decorative lighting.
This is the second major gift that Meyda has given to the center, as all of the decorative lighting at the new facility was designed and donated by the company.
This most recent gift shows the commitment of the Cohen family to View and Old Forge.
The Meyda pledge makes up a portion of a pledge totaling $750,000 that also comes with a challenge: to raise $1.5 million by Columbus Day 2011.
Achieving this goal would put $2.25 million towards View’s remaining $4.5 million debt and enable View to cut its debt in half.
Other donors that have made a pledge in this generous challenge include the Gould Family, Bill Locke, the Jost Family, the Mallinckrodt and Noonan families, and Dutch Vandervort.
