The State of Connecticut is allocating more than $7 million in grants to nonprofit organizations for facility and infrastructure upgrades at cultural and historic sites, including nine in Fairfield County.
The funds are being released under the state”™s Good to Great Grant Program, which is co-administered by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and CT Humanities.
“The Good to Great Grant Program is a competitive award program that recognizes those organizations that devote time and energy to planning strategies to improve the visitor experience,” Liz Shapiro, director of arts, preservation and museums at DECD, said. “These funds have been awarded to organizations of all sizes who demonstrate deep thinking about who they are as organizations, and what they could be if granted access to capital funding. I”™m so proud that DECD is a funding partner for this outstanding group of projects.”
Within Fairfield County, the following organizations have received state grants:
Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (Ridgefield): $500,000 to implement a renovation of the museum”™s exterior campus.
Avon Theatre Film Center (Stamford): $500,000 to reconfigure the existing layout to create a smaller and more intimate auditorium that will be utilized for filmmaking classes, poetry slams, niche films,and other activities.
Barnum Museum (Bridgeport): $181,953 to support the historic restoration of the six original wood door entryways that are characteristic of the iconic 1893 building.
Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens (Stamford): $500,000 to replace the greenhouse with a modern, state-of-the-art greenhouse which will be used to create and host a wide range of exhibits and programming.
Brookfield Craft Center Inc. (Brookfield): $49,900 to purchase upgraded equipment that will allow the organization to advance its offerings and attract the next level of craft students and artists.
Carriage Barn Arts Center (New Canaan): $128,000 to renovate and enhance the courtyard entry, thus enabling it to serve as a year-round public space for programs, performances, exhibitions and social events.
cARTie (Shelton): $40,000 to audit the space from the perspectives of ADA compliance, ASD support, and Human-Centered Design, then operationalize recommendations to build out all necessary adjustments.
Greenwich Historical Society (Greenwich): $418,057 for the Bush-Holley House Preservation and Environmental Upgrade project, which will provide environmental upgrades to protect the 18th-century National Historic Landmark and its collections.
WPKN (Bridgeport): $85,900 for WPKN SoundMobile: Radio On Wheels, which will create the radio station”™s expansion onto the streets and into the community with an all-electric radio station van that will develop new means of sharing the rich, historical musical culture and oral history of Connecticut residents.
Photo: Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, courtesy of the organization
