Thursday, June 28, 2012

Iowa Community Cultural Grant provides support for American Gothic House Center



Late Friday afternoon I received wonderful news!  The Iowa Community Cultural Grant (ICCG) program announced it will fund a project to help promote cultural events and attractions throughout Wapello County for the next year.  The grant awards $8,000 to Wapello County to hire a part-time Media/Publicity Coordinator.  The coordinator will market events here at the American Gothic House Center in addition to other organizations in the County such as the Airpower Museum, Wapello County Historical Museum, Ottumwa Community Players and other cultural groups.

The coordinator will also help to aid collaboration between these organizations to determine how the American Gothic House Center and other organizations can cooperate and pool resources so these organizations can attain more admissions, merchandise sales and/or fundraising so they can continue to contribute to the county’s quality of life.

The overall project is titled the “Wapello County Cultural Media Campaign” and is the result of the collaboration of the Wapello County Board of Supervisors, American Gothic House Center, and Ottumwa Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB).  The ICCG is a program of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs that provides cash support for the employment of Iowans who through those jobs spur the development and appreciation of arts, cultural, ethnic, historical and tourism activities.

The coordinator will be hired to work 22 hours per week, half of those hours at the American Gothic House Center and the other half at the CVB office.  I am thrilled for this wonderful opportunity!  It will be of great value to have support from a second staff person to promote the American Gothic House Center and the great things we have to offer!

More information about the position can be found at our website www.AmericanGothicHouse.net.  Any questions regarding the position can be directed to Mark Eckman of the Ottumwa Area CVB at 641.684.4303 or Holly Berg of the American Gothic House Center at 641.652.3352.

Holly Berg
Administrator
American Gothic House Center
theamericangothichouse@gmail.com









The American Gothic House Center strives to become financially independent through gift shop revenue, sponsorships, and by establishing an endowment fund. Funds raised in this campaign will be used to match the Iowa Cultural Trust Endowment Challenge Grant and will become endowment funds to support the Center's annual operations. As a subscriber to the weekly newsletter, you have already shown support for the American Gothic House Center. I invite you to strengthen your role in the valuable experience we provide the community by making a contribution to our fund drive. Click here to give your tax deductible gift, or head to our website for more information. Thank you to all who have donated so far!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Summer has arrived at AGHC



Whew!  We’ve made it through another fun-filled American Gothic Days weekend!  We had a wonderful turnout for all three of our events:  American Gothic Art Contest, 5K Run/Walk, and Bike Ride. 
You can see pictures from our events on our Facebook page by clicking here:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Gothic-House/80025816448
After you go to our page simply click on photos and you will see albums for each event.


Yesterday marked the beginning of summer, but it feels like summer has been here for a couple of months already!  The poor wildflowers have been very confused by the early spring and summer.  If you stop by you’ll see many of our late summer and fall flowers are already blooming!  Our balloon flowers (my personal favorite) began to bloom this week, a month or so ahead of schedule!  The picture on the left shows one of our balloon flowers.  I love how they look just like a hot air balloon right before they bloom!






If you are planning on visiting this weekend, please note the Pitchfork Pie Stand will be closed this weekend, June 23/24, as Beth will be at the American Library Association conference in California. But she will be open every weekend after that until Labor Day. Check her web page for updates:  www.theworldneedsmorepie.com

Holly Berg
Administrator
American Gothic House Center
theamericangothichouse@gmail.com





The American Gothic House Center strives to become financially independent through gift shop revenue, sponsorships, and by establishing an endowment fund. Funds raised in this campaign will be used to match the Iowa Cultural Trust Endowment Challenge Grant and will become endowment funds to support the Center's annual operations. As a subscriber to the weekly newsletter, you have already shown support for the American Gothic House Center. I invite you to strengthen your role in the valuable experience we provide the community by making a contribution to our fund drive. Click here to give your tax deductible gift, or head to our website for more information. Thank you to all who have donated so far!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

American Gothic House Center Turns Five!


This weekend marks the 42nd year of American Gothic Days…AND the American Gothic House Center’s 5th anniversary!  It is wonderful to look back and see all that has been accomplished over the last five years. 


Since opening, the Center has hosted over 52,000 visitors from all 50 states and 52 countries.  Over 4,000 students and other groups have toured the Center and Center staff and volunteers have given over 75 programs both at the Center and at other schools and institutions.  Also important to note—volunteers have donated more than 6,000 hours of their time since opening--which doesn’t include the countless hours given to make their dream a reality!


Thank you to everyone who has helped the Center to become a success over the last five years and we hope for many more years to come!


And while celebrating our milestone we will also be celebrating Iowa Museum Week!  Governor Terry Branstad has proclaimed June 11-17, 2012 as Iowa Museum Week.  


Nationally:
--Museums rank among the top three family vacation destinations
--Visitors to historic sites & cultural attractions stay 53% longer and spend 36% more money than other kinds of tourists.
--Cultural & heritage activities account for more than 23% of all domestic trips recorded by the tour & travel industry
--When making a decision to relocate, businesses factor in access to cultural resources that includes a dynamic museum community according to research by the National Governors Association.


For more information detailing the importance of Iowa Museums see this flier put out by the Iowa Museum Association http://www.iowamuseums.org/UserDocs/Pages/Iowa_Museum_Week_Flier_2012.pdf


Upcoming events:
June 8-10:  American Gothic Days
Art Contest
5K Run/Walk
Bike Ride


Holly Berg
Administrator
American Gothic House Center
theamericangothichouse@gmail.com