NEWS RELEASE
Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
Awards $69,575 in Grants
Funding to support programming, interpretation, and marketing of
heritage and historic sites
Sixteen Hudson Valley cultural and historic organizations received a total of $69,575 in matching grants that will support a variety of educational and interpretive programs, the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area announced today. The 2019 Heritage Development Grant Program funds projects that showcase the area’s history and contribute to the regional heritage tourism economy of the Hudson River Valley. Funded projects feature a range of engaging programming and initiatives aimed at connecting people with the region’s history and historic resources.
Scott Keller, Executive Director of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area said, “By awarding National Heritage Area funds to locally developed projects, the Heritage Development Grant Program illustrates the unique cooperative framework of the National Heritage Area program at its very best: harnessing federal resources to encourage engaging, homegrown initiatives that promote the many historic and cultural assets of the entire Hudson Valley.”
The projects described below offer a diverse range of creative programs to engage people with history:
$5,000 to Bard College, Tivoli, Dutchess County, for the “The Stage at Montgomery Place”, a public performing arts initiative.
$5,000 to Boscobel House and Gardens, Garrison, Putnam County, for signage improvements.
$1,750 to the FASNY Museum of Firefighting, Hudson, Colombia County, for a marketing expansion project via advertising in USA Today.
$5,000 to Historic Cherry Hill, Albany, Albany County, for their program “Swept Clean: A Dramatic Story of Loss and Restoration in Victorian America.”
$5,000 to the Huguenot Historic Society, New Paltz, Ulster County, for “Picturing Huguenot Street” a project to develop three historical paintings that portray Historic Huguenot Street over time.
$5,000 to the Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy, Saugerties, Ulster County, to support a Esopus Creek puppet suite as part of the lighthouse’s sesquicentennial.
$5,000 to the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Catskill, Greene County, for improvements to the visitor experience at the home of Thomas Cole.
$1,325 to the Village of Kinderhook, Kinderhook, Columbia County, to develop a walking and bicycling tour entitled “Discover Historic Kinderhook”.
$5,000 to the Walkway Over the Hudson, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, for digital interpretive signage on the Walkway Over the Hudson.
$7,500 to the Westchester County Historical Society, various site in Westchester County, to map and post historical information on the 231 national register sites of the county in a publicly-accessible app.
$2,000 to the Albany County Historical Association, Albany, Albany County, to encourage art education in Albany in collaboration with the Friends of Clermont.
$2,000 to the Friends of Clermont, Clermont, Columbia County, to provide reduced cost painting classes at Clermont State Historic Site, in collaboration with the Albany County Historical Association.
$5,000 to the Hudson River Maritime Museum, Kingston, Ulster County, to build and update the permanent Mary Powell Steamship Exhibit.
$5,000 to the Putnam History Museum, Cold Spring, Putnam County, to develop their “Recreation, Nature, and Sports Exhibition.”
$5,000 to The Fullerton Center, Newburgh, Orange County, for the “Urban Archive in Newburgh” project, which aims to increase public access to historical information to Newburgh via a publicly-accessible app.
$5,000 to the Yorktown Trail Town Committee, Yorktown, Westchester County, to install interpretive signage and enhance online resources on the history of quarrying in the town.
Funding for this grant program was allocated through the National Park Service. Priority was given to projects that featured a designated Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Heritage Site, connected multiple heritage sites thematically or geographically, were part of a larger local or regional heritage initiative, incorporated mechanisms for sustainability beyond the period of the grant, and projects that involved partnerships with other heritage sites, municipalities, and for profit and not-for-profit organizations. Grants are awarded twice a year.
The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area program was established by Congress in 1996 and is funded through the National Park Service and Department of the Interior. The mission of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area is to recognize, preserve, protect and interpret the nationally significant historic, cultural and natural resources of the Hudson River Valley for the benefit of the Nation. The Hudson River Valley Greenway is the management entity for the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.
Visit www.hudsonrivervalley.com for more information on the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.
