The Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts was created
to honor her accomplishments and keep her dream
alive by recognizing, encouraging, and supporting talented individuals
pursuing an education and career in the performing arts.
The Foundation was formed in 1987 by members of Donna Reed's hometown
community of Denison, her husband, Grover Asmus, actresses Shelley Fabares
and Norma Connolly, and numerous friends, associates, and family members.
Based in Denison, Iowa, the Donna Reed Foundation operates to recognize,
encourage, and support talent through national, state, and local scholarships,
conduct workshops taught by outstanding industry professionals from across
the country, and promote stage plays, concerts, and other cultural activities
throughout the year. It also works towards supporting a performing arts
center, full film archive, a museum, and professional studio facilities
dedicated to developing new artists.
Our Mission
Donna Reed touched many lives with her integrity, courtesy, equity,
and humanity. She held a great respect for education and a
personal understanding of what it means to follow one's dream.
The mission of the Donna Reed Foundation
- promotes
continuous excellence in education,
the performing arts, and community to students of all ages
through her upstanding values
- memorializes
her story, achievement, and
leadership through the preservation of historical assets
such as personal archives and a landmark opera house as a
legacy to all who share the dream
- inspires
service and commitment within its
communities, membership, and partnerships that sustains a
momentum well into the twenty-first century.
Please explore the current activities and interests of the Foundation.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact at the address below.
- A national scholarship program for the support of performing arts students
everywhere.
- Special workshops in the performing arts conducted by professionals
from Hollywood and across the nation.
- Restoration project of the historic Ritz Theater in Denison, Iowa,
that is becoming a nationally recognized center for performing arts in
the heart of rural America. (Theatre Technical Specifications)
- Dedicated to preserving the memory of Donna Reed and the lives and
achievements of all Iowans.
- Unique opportunities to contribute to the long-term development of
the Foundation.
Personnel
Some of the many volunteers and staff who make the Foundation
work a reality.
