CONTACT: Lynn Wood
(608) 575-6547
lwood@wcgpr.com
High energy initiative will focus on people, ideas, and values
(MADISON) Steve Brown grew up in a home where beliefs and values mattered. His father, A. Barton Brown, was a Baptist minister who challenged his children to understand how their faith touched their lives. “My Dad felt strongly that our faith was about making important, life-changing values a part of your everyday life,” Brown remembers. “My early memories aren’t so much about Commandments and sermons as they are about learning that the values of my faith — belief in something larger than ourselves, love of family, respect for others, honesty — were essential skills that would help me lead my life and later became the cornerstones upon which I built my career and my business.”
Now, Steve Brown and his wife Laurel, both successful business owners, want to give back to the community by sharing with others an opportunity to join in the learning, satisfaction, enjoyment and excitement they’ve experienced in their values-oriented life. To that end, they are announcing the creation of the Steve and Laurel Brown Foundation, Inc.
“Some of what the Foundation will be doing will be traditional and easy-to-understand,” Laurel Brown said, “but there’s a large exciting piece of this effort that people are going to have to experience firsthand.” She explained that while the Foundation will support existing and new efforts to help individuals and families in need, the arts, and other important community initiatives; it will focus much of its attention on creating a multi-experiential space in the middle of the vibrant UW–Madison campus and the community where students, faculty, families and others will be encouraged to experience and, if they feel like it, to share their own ideas, hopes, dreams and values with each other in order to make a difference in their own lives, the community in which they live, and the world.
The Stephen and Laurel Brown Foundation, Inc. multi-experiential space, “UpperHouse,” will be housed in a 16,500 square-foot area recently purchased by the Foundation in University Square. The area is being reimagined and remodeled by Laurel Brown’s design firm, Brownhouse as part of a multi-million dollar effort to, in Steve Brown’s words, “…provide people with an exciting variety of opportunities to live moments of their time in an environment built, not for proselytizing but for learning how great ideas and values interact and shine in real world settings.”
“This amazing space is located in the heart of the University community and opens onto the East Campus Mall that serves as the main thoroughfare where thousands of students walk to and from South Park Street and the Memorial Union every day,” Laurel Brown said with equal enthusiasm. “We see it operating as a sort of comfortable, but lively town square with tables, chairs, areas where guest lecturers can speak, and smaller gathering spots where students can discuss whatever they would like, artists could perform and visitors could come in and out as they pleased”
Creating this unique space and developing a Foundation that will help support many, varied aspects of the campus community, in the heart of downtown, was a critical element of the Browns’ plan because of their lifelong connection and commitment to the city and the University. “The UW–Madison campus is a world-class community that attracts students from all walks of life and every corner of the globe,” Steve Brown explained. “As lifelong residents of the city and a long-time business owner who has provided housing for UW–Madison students, faculty and staff, young professionals as well as and other residents, we wanted to continue to serve this community and to find ways to enrich the lives of those who call Madison home by creating more places and opportunities for growing and learning.”
“What we hope to see is an exciting, happy explosion of talent, thought, and creativity,” Steve Brown said, giving examples of the types of activities the Foundation hopes to be hosting on a regular basis that includes, among other things: live artistic performances; lecture series on topics of interest selected by students and faculty such as international events, public policy and emerging technologies; live music; opportunities to interact with executives from major Madison-area employers; classic film showings; discussions about the great religions and how they interact with the scientific and ethical issues of the day, and a number of open mic opportunities. “We want to see the lights burning into the night with exciting events 365 days a year!” Laurel Brown added.
Steve Brown said the Foundation will also focus on two other initiatives important to both Laurel and him. “We have been encouraging the University to establish a Center for Christian Studies similar to the Jewish Studies, and Hebrew and Semitic Studies and Center for Global Islamic Studies programs already in existence on the campus,” Brown explained, “The Foundation will work with a broad variety of experts and organizations to develop a substantive, academically grounded program description in the hopes that the University will eventually work with us and allow us to help fund an effort to enrich the offerings available to students who have an interest in this important subject matter.”
In addition, the Browns said the Foundation has recently initiated discussions with Blackhawk Church. “Blackhawk Church has one of the largest congregations in the Dane County area,” Steve Brown noted, “They have created a vibrant downtown and campus-based experience and have been holding services for a number of years at the Majestic Theater. We’d like to persuade them to consider bringing their Sunday services to our space, which we think would expand their options and enrich the experiential options we are trying to provide. The Browns said Church leaders appreciate the offer and indicated that they will be talking with the congregations about the offer over the summer.
The Stephen and Laurel Brown Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt foundation. Steve Brown is Chairman of the Board of the Foundation. Laurel Brown also serves on the Board, as do Scott Watson, Chief Financial Officer of Steve Brown Apartments; Rich Frohmader, a CPA and senior tax partner with Baker Tilly Virchow Krause and Chris Dolson, Senior Pastor of Blackhawk Church.
