The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Challenge grant supports American Mural Project
WINSTED — The goal includes helping Connecticut to recover through the arts.
To that end, the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund has awarded a challenge grant to the American Mural Project.
The grants includes gift matching that allows local nonprofits to set fundraising goals to meet immediate needs, including operational support., according to the response fund. As one of 50 nonprofits chosen to participate in Northwest Connecticut, the American Mural Project, or AMP, is aiming to raise $2,500 to receive a $2,500 match from the foundation.
“Donations through this challenge grant will help AMP innovatively provide AMP’s indemand programs and events again, perhaps in new ways, and help CT recover through the arts and the celebration of work,” said
Amy Wynn, AMP’s executive director.
The Northwest Community Foundation launched Northwest Corner Gives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in an effort to double support for local nonprofits. The foundation has already matched 50 percent of AMP’s total campaign goal of $10,000 through the Northwest Corner Gives: COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund.
The foundation will continue to match all gifts made through Northwest Corner Gives on a dollar-for-dollar basis until AMP reaches its goal. Matching grants are made possible by gifts from community members, anonymous donors, and discretionary Community Foundation funds, according to a release.
The funding, AMP members said, will supplement revenue loss resulting from the pandemic. AMP suspended several school and summer programs, canceled public tours, and is now shifting plans for the annual gala, its largest fundraiser of the year, because of group size limits the state imposed.
“Despite these challenges,
AMP is ramping up for its summer Outdoor Design & Building program for tweens and teens, a Digital Story Work internship for young adults, after-school and in-school programming in the fall, and remains optimistic about starting tours again later in the summer,” according to a statement.
Donations may be made on the Northwest Corner Gives website: https://northwestcornergives.org/ campaigns/american-muralproject/
Launched in 2002 by artist Ellen Griesedieck, the American Mural Project is creating what is expected to be the largest indoor collaborative artwork in the world: a mural 120 feet long, 48 feet high, and up to 10 feet deep.
“The mural is a tribute to American workers and highlights what has defined the country over the last century,” according to the AMP website. More than 15,000 children and adults have helped create pieces of the mural, which will be housed in two former mill buildings on Whiting Street in Winsted, according to AMP.
To learn more about AMP, visit www.americanmuralproject.org/