This year, the Fine Arts Center at UMass Amherst celebrates its 50th anniversary, with incredible performances by luminaries including Wynton Marsalis, Bill T. Jones Dance Company, Soweto Gospel Choir, and Ballet Hispánico. What you may not know is that, since 2000, the Angel Ticket Program has ensured that everyone is welcome to attend these performances.
Joyce Smar, former director of programming at the Fine Arts Center, believed that the arts are essential to a healthy, meaningful life. Guided by this conviction, she envisioned a community where every child and adult—regardless of circumstance—could experience the inspiration, joy, and connection that the arts provide.
To bring this vision to life, she and her husband, former professor Benedict Smar, created the Angel Ticket Program and the Joyce and Benedict Smar Angel Ticket Endowment. This program provides tickets at no cost each year to clients of nonprofit human service organizations serving at-risk and underserved individuals across Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties, ensuring that access to the arts will continue for generations to come.
Today, Joyce’s legacy is more vital than ever. The Angel Ticket Program has grown from 45 participating agencies to 145, and the demand continues to rise. For the past two years, tickets have been awarded for every Fine Arts Center performance, totaling approximately 735 tickets and $14,000 from the endowment and Angel Ticket gift account. Since its inception, nearly 300 donors have been inspired by Joyce’s legacy and supported the program, which has awarded an estimated 15,000 tickets in total over the years, providing transformative arts experiences to those who might otherwise be unable to attend.
Jamilla Deria
Director of the Fine Arts Center
