The College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University will dedicate its newly renovated main lobby at the Creative Arts Center at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 28. The space will be renamed the Douglas O. Blaney Lobby, in memory of the eldest son of Gerald and Carolyn Eberly Blaney of Chalk Hill, Pa., who provided the funding for the renovations. The ceremony is open to the public.
We are honored that the Creative Arts Center’s lobby, which is a gateway to the arts and a performance and exhibition space in its own right, will share the memory of Douglas O. Blaney with all who enter the building,said Dean Bernie Schultz of the College of Creative Arts.
Gerald and Carolyn Eberly Blaney are more than generous patrons, they are loving parents and dear friends who have ensured the brightest of futures for many students.
The Douglas O. Blaney Lobby is at the front entrance of the Creative Arts Center, near the Mesaros Galleries and the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre. During 2002 and 2003, the lobby underwent extensive renovation at the same time as the Concert Theatre.
Changes include new wall coverings for artwork display, new and improved lighting that has been coordinated with the lighting in the adjacent Mesaros Galleries, a brand new Box Office and concession area, two unisex ADA accessible restrooms, new blue carpeting, wood paneling along one wall which surrounds the box office and a large plasma screen TV.
W. Gerald and Carolyn Eberly Blaney are long-time supporters of West Virginia University and have made major contributions supporting numerous WVU programs and projects over the years. In 1993, the University formally changed the name of the College of Arts and Sciences to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. Gerald and Carolyn Blaney also personally contributed toward the Life Sciences Building, as well as the facility addition to the WVU President’s Home. In 2000, the University officially named the President’s Home the Blaney House. In the College of Creative Arts, the Blaneys have also funded the Blaney Graduate Seminar Room.
Carolyn Eberly Blaney, a member of the Eberly College Advisory Board, is also a member of the board of the West Virginia University Foundation, Inc., and is president of The Eberly Foundation and a trustee of The Eberly Family Charitable Trust.
She is a WVU graduate, earning a bachelor’s degree in speech with an emphasis in drama. She received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from WVU in 1998 and in 1999 received the College of Creative Arts Dean’s Award for her contributions to the arts. She was inducted into the Order of Vandalia in 1995 and was the 1992 Most Loyal Mountaineer.
Gerald Blaney was the recipient of the 1999 WVU Shining Star Award for exemplary service to the University. He is retired from the oil and gas industry and is a distinguished World War II veteran who was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific.
Douglas O. Blaney was born on Oct. 29, 1948, in Uniontown, Pa., the first child of Gerald and Carolyn Eberly Blaney. He graduated from The Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pa., in June 1966 at the age of 17 and attended Susquehanna University, and later West Virginia University, where he majored in pre-law. He married Cynthia Baker in 1969. He died as a result of an automobile accident in 1971, leaving his wife and infant daughter, Dana Blaney. Today, Dana is a lawyer in Philadelphia, with the firm of Pepper-Hamilton, fulfilling her father’s dream.
The lobby renovations, along with the renovations to the Concert Theatre, were designed by Mathes Brierre Architects of Louisiana, along with Paradigm Architecture, Davis Crossfield Associates and Associated Design Group. General contractor was March-Westin of Morgantown.