Natural and Cultural Resources

Cowee Pottery School, a nonprofit organization located in the historic Macon Heritage Center near Franklin, North Carolina, received a NCR grant. The school is run by a group of dedicated volunteers who specialize in teaching people of all ages the enriching art of pottery. Watch the video.

Vision: The arts, the economy, and the natural environment are inextricably linked. The creative spirit and natural assets of the area will continue to attract people and businesses. As the region grows, it is critical to protect and enhance these resources to ensure the region sustains its economy and unique quality of life.

Goal: Work to preserve and cultivate WNC’s sense of place by investing in cultural and environmental projects and programs that protect or enhance the quality of life in Western North Carolina communities.

Strategies: (1) protect and enhance the health of the region’s natural systems and (2) support and develop the region’s arts-based economy.

Grants

Asheville Museum of Science (AMOS)
15 WNC counties
Grant Amount: $8,000
Grant Year: 2017
contingent upon other necessary funding needed to develop a series of four short, video vignettes that orient museum visitors to Western North Carolina’s unique geological, ecological and cultural setting. Through a regional-focused museum, AMOS wants to educate and inspire residents and tourists to celebrate and protect WNC’s unique natural landscapes.
Carolina Public Press
WNC Region
Grant Amount: $20,000
Grant Year: 2017
to provide in-depth, investigative and explanatory journalism on the present and future of the more than 1.1 million acres of national forests spanning WNC in a public awareness effort to inform and engage readers on one of the top issues facing the region.
Madison County
Madison County
Grant Amount: $50,000 over 5 years
Grant Year: 2017
to create an art sculpture park along the greenway in Mars Hill that will create an outdoor art gallery to enliven the rural landscape, create a dynamic visual experience for residents and visitors, create more venues for public art in Madison County, increase opportunities for artists who work in the region, connect a manufacturing history to an economic development future, and provide a cultural destination for tourists.
NC International Folk Festival / Folkmoot
Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Buncombe, Henderson and Madison counties
Grant Amount: $30,000
Grant Year: 2017
for the continuing development of the Folkmoot Center as a Multi-Cultural Exchange location.
WNC Green Building Council
Buncombe County
Amount: $7,500
Grant Year: 2017
To engage Design One for the purposes of marketing and branding. This grant will support the rebranding process to determine a new name, logo, and tagline, as well as gain support in creating a marketing and outreach strategy.
American Whitewater
WNC – Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests
Amount: $10,000
Grant Year: 2017
Toward continued professional facilitation for the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Partnership during a year in which the future of the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests is to be charted. The Partnership is a diverse collaborative group that has been working for nearly 4 years to develop consensus-based approaches to the management of the region’s National Forests. Their work dovetails with the Forest Service’s current effort to revise the management plans for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests.
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
WNC Region
Amount: $25,000
Grant Year: 2017
Contingent upon other funds needed being procured to help launch the Blue Ridge Craft Trails, a craft trail system for 25 WNC counties to increase income for craft artists and businesses, enhance cultural tourism, and improve local economies.
American Rivers
Jackson County
Amount: $65,000 over two years
Grant Year: 2017

To plan the Tuckaseigee River Blue Trail (TRBT) undertaking two years of the preliminary work needed to remove the Cullowhee Dam and create the TRBT. The TRBT plan will guide local efforts to enhance the river, promote family-friendly recreation, connect people to nature, and boost the local economy. AR’s Blue Trails have proven effective for building community support to protect rivers and ensure their health for future generations.
The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design
Buncombe County
Amount: $25,000
Grant Year: 2017
Toward a two-part feasibility assessment that will result in relevant and actionable data to inform and advance place-based affordable mixed-use developments for artists and the creative sector. The process will include in-depth community education and stakeholder engagement. Artspace is a national nonprofit real estate developer that specializes in creating, owning, and operating affordable housing and studio space for artists and creative sector businesses. It currently owns and operates 39 projects across the country.
Friends of the WNC Nature Center
Buncombe County
Amount $7,500
Grant Year: 2017
To engage Greg Walker Wilson in business planning to take over management of the food and gift services at the Nature Center. This proposed plan will create a long-term, sustainable source of income for the non-profit Friends, and will directly help to fulfill their mission.
Asheville Art Museum
WNC Region
Amount $7,500
Grant Year: 2017
To engage Joyce Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Communications to create a 20-month communications portfolio, including a timeline, related to the Museum's construction and grand re-opening. Funding for this grant came from CFWNC’s Natural & Cultural Resources Focus Area.
Toe River Arts Council
Mitchell and Yancey counties
Amount: $7,500
Grant Year: 2016

To engage Walker Wilson Consulting in the development of a 2017-2020 strategic plan that guides future decision-making, clarifies governance and financial structure and its relationships with the Toe River Arts brand and other partners.
Asheville Downtown Association Foundation
Buncombe County
Amount $25,000
Grant Year: 2016
Contingent upon the receipt of other funds and the acceptance of projected costs, to support the second phase of its Urban Trail marketing project including a mobile-enabled website and curricula for school field trips.
Mainspring Conservation Trust
Macon, Jackson, Swain counties
Amount: $30,000
Grant Year: 2016
To support continued facilitation costs for the next phase of Mountain Partners, an economic development and cultural heritage venture.
Flat Rock Playhouse
Henderson, Buncombe, Transylvania and Polk counties
Amount: $8,000
Grant Year: 2016
To engage David Mallette of Management Consultants for the Arts to facilitate Phase II of a strategic planning process.
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
Buncombe County
Amount : $17,500
Grant Year: 2016
To support the 2016 M.C. Richards Centennial Celebration honoring the 100th birthday of poet, potter, author, visual artist, and educator M.C. Richards (1916-1999).
Cowee Pottery School
Macon County
Grant Amount: $4,000
Grant Year: 2016
To purchase five new pottery wheels, chairs, splash pans and other essential accessories so that additional and larger classes in this technique can be offered.
Tryon Fine Arts Center
Polk County
Grant Amount: $6,300
Grant Year: 2016

To offer an arts education program via an Artist in Residence at Tryon Elementary School.
Asheville Art Museum
Burke, Graham, Jackson, McDowell, Mitchell, and Swain counties
Amount: $35,000
Grant Year: 2016
To deliver its Literacy Through Art program to students in rural WNC counties.
NC International Folk Festival / Folkmoot
16 WNC Counties
Amount: $30,000
Grant Year: 2016
To continue planning and development of the Center for Multi-Cultural Exchange, an effort to transition from a two-week summer festival into a year-round community and cultural resource.
Carolina Public Press
WNC Region
Amount; $20,000
Grant Year: 2016
To provide in-depth, investigative and explanatory journalism on the present condition and future of our region's water systems and national forests.
Pack Place Performing Arts Center / Diana Wortham Theatre
Buncombe County
Amount: $7,500
Grant Year: 2015
To engage Gary Landwirth for planning during the major restructuring of the Pack Place complex, including new financial and operational obligations to the city, increases in building management costs and duties, and the creation of two new performance venues, as well as maintenance, programming and management.
North Carolina Stage Company
Buncombe County
Amount: $7,500
Grant Year: 2015
To engage Walker Wilson Consulting for facilitation of a 2015-2018 strategic planning process to give the organization a decision-making guide to deliver and grow its current and future offerings in a financially sustainable way.
Land Trust for the Little Tennessee
Macon County
Amount: $42,391
Grant Year: 2015
To engage the Catalpa Group consulting firm in a project with potential cultural, environmental and economic benefits.
Wild South
Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Swain counties
Amount: $50,000
Grant Year: 2015
Continued support for its Cultural Heritage Assistant (CHA), hired with support from CFWNC last year, who has increased staff capacity and markedly accelerated the success of Wild South’s Cultural Heritage program.
Toe River Arts Council
Mitchell and Yancey counties
Amount: $50,000
Grant Year: 2015
Toward consultant fees related to branding Mitchell and Yancey counties as one cultural arts entity. The project will support cultural district planning, beginning with branding and advancing to the establishment of an artist-designed, arts wayfinding system in the Toe River Valley. This brand will be used regionally, perhaps nationally, to: unify cultural groups and artists, attract more visitors, retain and encourage new artist and business development, foster local cultural development, and create new jobs as a result of an expanding creative community and economy.
The Wilderness Society
WNC – Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests
Amount: $60,000 over two years
Grant Year: 2015
To sustain the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Partnership, which was chartered in December 2013 to engage diverse interests in establishing common goals for forest management, recreation, cultural resource protection, and new wilderness designations, as well as to influence the United States Forest Service's (USFS) Management Plan Revision for the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests (expected September 2016). The Partnership is moving from the initial relationship-building phase to the leveraging-results phase over the next two years. The process of building consensus will be more intense and require greater supervision and structure through expanded and enhanced professional facilitation.
Asheville Community Theatre
Asheville/Buncombe County
Amount: $30,000
Grant Year: 2014
To stabilize the Blomberg Building which is adjacent to the main theatre. Recently, the threshold cracked, and the pavement in front of the building began to sink. A structural engineer determined the building needed several significant repairs to prevent it from eventual collapse. The Blomberg Building serves an important storage purpose now, but ACT’s strategic plan also calls for the organization’s education programs to be housed in the building once renovated. This grant safeguards the building’s current and future purposes.
Exploring Joara Foundation
Morganton/Burke County
Amount: $50,000
Grant Year: 2014
To enable the growing organization to hire an executive director to expand educational programming and heritage tourism in Burke County. EJF supports work at the Berry site, a Native American archaeological dig site that is also the location of sixteenth-century Fort San Juan in the native town of Joara.
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy/Blue Ridge Forever
WNC Region
Amount: $50,000
Grant Year: 2014
To assist in the Blue Ridge Forever land trust coalition efforts to permanently protect ten properties vital to the natural and cultural heritage of the region. Grant funds will be utilized to provide $5,000 sub-grants to BRF members to assist with transaction closing costs.
Wild South
Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Swain counties
Amount: $40,000
Grant Year: 2014
To accelerate the growth of its Cultural Heritage Program, which provides ongoing support for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Funding will allow Wild South to provide education resources and archive historical documents, as well as participate in the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Partnership identifying areas (particularly culturally sensitive ones) for protection in the USFS plan revision.
Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association
Buncombe, Henderson and Transylvania counties
Amount: $12,600
Grant Year: 2014
To fund the development of a mobile application to encourage and guide recreation activity in the most popular sections of Pisgah National Forest in Buncombe, Henderson and Transylvania counties.
The Wilderness Society
WNC - Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests
Amount: $35,000 in two grants
Grant Year: 2013
To provide professional facilitation services in leading a community-based collaboration known as the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Partnership for the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests’ plan revision and to purchase Community Viz software with mapping tables that encourages interactive dialogue and creates map-based consensus scenarios that can be viewed and shared.
Western North Carolina Alliance
Asheville/Buncombe County
Amount: $30,000
Grant Year: 2013
For a three-pronged approach of scientific research, public engagement and citizen volunteerism to build regional engagement in the U.S. Forest Service planning for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests.
WNC Nature Center / Friends of the WNC Nature Center
Asheville/Buncombe County
Amount: $50,000
Grant Year: 2012
For interpretive enhancements to the red wolf exhibit and to build a covered pavilion, two priority projects in the 2020 Vision and Master Site Plan for the nature park that serves the region.
HandMade in America
WNC Region
Amount: $75,000
Grant Year: 2012
To expand technical assistance and community development efforts as part of their Economic Development program for rural communities. Using HandMade’s cultural asset-based economic development model, the expansion aims to transform communities in CFWNC’s 18-county service area.
Town of Rutherfordton
Rutherfordton/Rutherford County
Amount: $1,250
Grant Year: 2012
To match grant funds for the Small Towns Economic Prosperity Program helping communities seek ways to overcome adversity by building on assets through the former NC Steps grant program.
Town of Murphy
Murphy/Cherokee County
Amount: $1,250
Grant Year: 2012
To match grant funds for the Small Towns Economic Prosperity Program helping communities seek ways to overcome adversity by building on assets through the former NC Steps grant program.

Natural and Cultural Resources

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