Natural and Cultural Resources Recent Grants

  • EcoForesters
    Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, and Yancey Counties
    Grant Amount: $8,500
    Fiscal Year 2020
    to engage Taproot Consulting to develop a strategic plan and a fundraising plan.
  • EcoForesters
    Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania Counties
    Grant Amount: $30,000 (contingent upon other funds)
    Fiscal Year 2020
    to seed its Invasive Species Stewardship Fund.
  • Flat Rock Playhouse
    Henderson, Buncombe, Polk, and Transylvania Counties
    Grant Amount: $20,000
    Fiscal Year 2020
    to complete upgrades to the theater’s sound and lighting equipment.
  • Green Built Alliance
    Buncombe
    Grant Amount: $25,000
    Fiscal Year 2020
    to support the Blue Horizons Project’s continuing community engagement, marketing, education, and outreach efforts.
  • LEAF Community Arts
    WNC Region
    Grant Amount: $8,500
    Fiscal Year 2020
    to engage Birds Eye Business Planning & Adventure for Strategic Visioning and Planning.
  • Montford Park Players
    WNC Region
    Grant Amount: $8,400
    Fiscal Year 2020
    to engage Taproot Consulting to assist the organization in strategic planning.
  • National Trust for Historic Preservation
    Polk County
    Grant Amount: $35,000
    Fiscal Year 2020
    to engage key stakeholders – especially African American churches and organizations, local residents, artists and young people – in envisioning the future of Nina Simone’s Childhood Home in Tryon, NC.
  • Riverlink (as fiscal sponsor for the French Broad River Partnership)
    Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, Mitchell, Transylvania, and Yancey Counties
    Grant Amount: $45,000
    Fiscal Year 2020
    to engage consultants to create an economic impact study quantifying the value of clean water and the French Broad River Watershed to the region’s economy.
  • Western Carolina University/Bardo Arts Center
    Jackson, Macon, Haywood, and Swain Counties and the Qualla Boundary
    Grant Amount: $13,090
    Fiscal Year 2020
    for an exhibition examining the human effect on the landscape and environment, entitled “Plotted and Pieced: WNC from the Air,” by acclaimed photographer Alex MacLean.
  • The American Chestnut Foundation
    Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Graham, Haywood, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Transylvania, and Yancey Counties
    Grant Amount: $10,000
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to further a proactive gene conservation project in which seeds will be collected from remnant, wild American chestnuts across the species range and transplanted in orchards, where they will be used for future breeding.
  • Asheville Art Museum
    WNC Region
    Grant Amount: $30,000
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to support pre-K through 12th grade and adult educational programs in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition Appalachia Now! An Interdisciplinary Survey of Contemporary Art in Southern Appalachia.
  • Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
    Buncombe County
    Grant Amount: $10,000
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to implement community programming related to the Between Form and Content: Perspectives on Jacob Lawrence and Black Mountain College exhibition, the first to open in its new location at 120 College Street.
  • Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
    WNC Region
    Grant Amount: $25,000
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to complete the Blue Ridge Craft Trails, an initiative to increase income for craft artists and businesses, enhance cultural tourism, and improve economic opportunity in WNC.
  • Conserving Carolina
    Henderson and Transylvania Counties
    Grant Amount: $25,000
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to acquire 314 acres of land, which will be transferred to DuPont State Recreational Forest.
  • Cowee Pottery School
    Cherokee, Jackson, Macon, and Swain Counties
    Grant Amount: $35,000 over two years
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to support the costs of purchasing two new kilns and hiring a part-time director.
  • Madison County Arts Council
    Madison County
    Grant Amount: $8,500
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to engage Leslie Anderson Consulting for capital campaign planning.
  • MountainTrue
    WNC Region
    Grant Amount: $8,500
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to engage Judy Futch Consulting and Searchlight Consulting in strategic planning.
  • Penland School of Craft
    Mitchell and Yancey Counties
    Grant Amount: $33,912
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to purchase a Computer Numerical Control system for its wood studio.
  • Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards
    Buncombe County
    Grant Amount: $7,500
    Fiscal Year 2019
    to engage Elly Wells Marketing + Project Management to create a communications strategy and timeline.

Natural and Cultural Resources Grant History