Annapolis, MD – Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town & South County is pleased to announce eleven new mini-grant awards to local heritage-related nonprofit organizations and projects. This matching mini-grants program, made possible for the eighth year through financial support from the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, and the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, leverages other funding to assist local heritage related non-profit organizations create new programs, activities and events that build upon interpretive themes in the state, county and city-approved heritage area Management Plan, foster collaborative partnerships, and enhance local cultural historic resources and heritage tourism. The maximum grant award is $2,500, which must be fully matched.

Two notable commonalities are found among this year’s awards, a result of expanded networking among heritage sites in the planning stages. First, a record number of projects this year (five out of the eleven) involve K-12 education students at local schools working with local heritage sites to learn more about their history and heritage. The second is the large number of projects (five of the eleven) that involve different aspects of the art, craft and heritage of sewing, and three of these related projects will result in concurrent exhibitions in the Historic Annapolis Museum in the spring of 2012. Four of the projects will produce documentary story quilts as part of their interpretation, under the guidance of the notable story quilter, Dr. Joan Gaither. Additionally, two of the projects result from plans for the upcoming commemoration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.

Organizations and projects approved for mini-grant awards include:

• Annapolis Community Foundation, for the development, design, and installation of “Annapolis Tapestries Museum Exhibit 2012,” an exhibition illustrating 18th century Annapolis through hand-stitched tapestries depicting the people, places, and events of that time. The exhibition will be installed in the Historic Annapolis Museum.
• Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corporation and Anne Arundel County War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, for a “Star-Spangled Banner Bicentennial Celebration Map” showcasing War of 1812 historical sites, as well as water and nature trails in Anne Arundel County.
• Anne Arundel County Trust for Preservation and Lost Towns Project, for “Sewing Through History: The Archaeology of Textiles and Sewing in Early America,” an exhibition and public lecture based on research of material culture related to the industry and pastime of sewing. The exhibition will be installed in the Historic Annapolis Museum.
• Banneker-Douglass Museum and Banneker-Douglass Foundation, for “Threads of Change: Rosenwald Schools in Anne Arundel County,” a collaborative project with local heritage organizations and public schools in southern and northern Anne Arundel County in which high school students will be trained to conduct oral history interviews and create an interpretive documentary story quilt based on their research.
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation, to produce and install updated interpretive signage at the Annapolis City Dock next to the historic skipjack, Stanley Norman, a widely-used resource by the CBF to engage and educate the public and local students.
• Downtown Annapolis Partnership, for the research, design, and printing of 1) a brochure promoting the local, state, and federal incentives available for businesses and structures within Annapolis’s Main Streets boundaries and 2) a directional and informational map (in hard-copy and online) promoting heritage sites and businesses within the Main Streets boundaries.
• Friends of the Maryland State Archives, for a brochure for its upcoming exhibit, “‘The enemy all round us’: Annapolis in the War of 1812,” at the Maryland State House, to open in February 2012.
• Galesville Heritage Society, for a new exhibit, “The Story of Stores: How Small Businesses Helped Build Community in Galesville, MD,” which will communicate the social and economic functions of community stores in the historic town; local students will participate in planning a satellite version of the exhibit for Southern High School.
• Historic Annapolis, for “Threads of Time: 45th Anniversary of the Desegregation of Bates High School,” a collaborative project with Anne Arundel County Public Schools to commemorate the desegregation of the school in 1966 through a documentary story quilt, a public exhibition in the Historic Annapolis Museum, and an in-school program for middle school students.
• London Town Foundation, Inc., for “Our Common Threads: Connecting the Heritage of Forgotten Voices at London Town,” a collaborative project with Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Students will examine the social welfare of Anne Arundel County during the 19th and early 20th centuries, using London Town’s Almshouse (1823-1965) as a case study in segregation during this time period, and will create a documentary story quilt out of their experiences.
• St. Anne's School of Annapolis, for a program of study in African American history and culture for the school’s 3rd grade students, including interviewing local residents, participating in a quilt workshop, and creating a resource book for the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center for other students and the public.

This year, Four Rivers’ mini-grant program funds of $24,807 are fully matched by the grantees for total project funds of $80,390. Four Rivers Heritage Area, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is one of Maryland’s 12 certified heritage areas. We create and support products and activities that leverage economic development through preservation and heritage tourism. Four Rivers is a partnership among the State of Maryland, Anne Arundel County, the City of Annapolis, the town of Highland Beach, and local historic sites, heritage organizations, and heritage-related businesses. For more information, please contact Executive Director Carol Benson at 410-222-1805.