Yahoo Finance George Lucas, wife donate $25M to Chicago school
Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas and his wife donate $25 million to prestigious Chicago school
FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2013 file photo, filmmaker George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson are seen on the red carpet at the 2013 Governors Awards in Los Angeles. The University of Chicago said Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014, that Lucas and Hobson are donating $25 million to the prestigious private school. The grant from The George Lucas Family Foundation will pay for a new arts hall at the university's Laboratory Schools.(Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)
CHICAGO (AP) -- Filmmaker George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson are donating $25 million to a prestigious private school on Chicago's South Side.
The University of Chicago says Tuesday that the grant from The George Lucas Family Foundation will pay for a new arts hall at the university's Laboratory Schools.
The 86,000-square-foot building will open in 2015 and will be named after Gordon Parks, a photographer, musician and social justice advocate.
Hobson is president of Chicago-based Ariel Investments. She married the Star Wars filmmaker in 2013.
Lucas says in a statement that art can "transform lives and communities" and says he hopes Parks' legacy will inspire future generations.
The Hyde Park school has about 1,800 students in nursery school through 12th grade.
