Month: August 2022
Amaze Design Selected for Heritage Center
August 18, 2022AARCH Society is excited to announce another step forward in the Heritage Center Vision: after reviewing several proposals for exhibit planning and design, the Society’s evaluation team recommended the selection of Amaze Design of Boston, Mass. In July, the AARCH Society Board voted to affirm.
“The Amaze Design team has a proven track record of producing extraordinary presentations that will serve us well,” says AARCH Society President Protean Gibril. “Their organization includes a talented team, and their proposal provided examples that we feel will create an exciting experience to provoke and “wow” Heritage Center visitors.”
Amaze Design has experience designing for a wide range of audiences nationally and internationally, with a client list that includes the National Park Service’s African Burial Ground in New York City, the August Wilson African American Culture Center in Pittsburgh, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American Culture, the Tubman Museum in Macon, Ga., and the National Children’s Museum in Washington, D.C.
On August 18, Amaze Design’s Scott Rabiet will be in Frederick to see the Heritage Center site and tour the downtown area and Frederick Visitor Center with members of the AARCH Society Board.
The dream of establishing a permanent home for the African American Resources Cultural and Heritage Society (AARCH) is nearing fruition, with the goal of opening The AARCH Society Heritage Center in 2023.
Two decades in the making, it fulfills former Alderman William O. Lee’s vision. The new Heritage Center will be a vibrant place to tell the important and under-represented story of Frederick’s African American community.
The City of Frederick provided a lease for a 3,200-square-foot facility on the corner of Carroll and All Saint’s Streets. Ideally situated near the Frederick Visitor Center, the Delaplaine Arts Center, and the Sky Stage, the AARCH Society Heritage Center adds another prominent destination for heritage tourism.
The Heritage Center will include permanent exhibit space, a multi-purpose area suitable for theater/meeting space, and research and archival facilities. It will showcase local artifacts and feature first-hand accounts of Frederick’s living treasures, local African American residents 90 years old or older.
$50,000 State Grant & Community Support
August 7, 2022In July, AARCH Society received a $50,000 grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, which will help support
exhibit design for the planned African American Heritage Center. The grants are for heritage tourism projects and activities in the state.
“Our administration is proud that this funding will allow for 107 projects to move forward and congratulate Maryland’s Heritage Areas and their tourism partners for their support in changing Maryland for the better,” said Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.
AARCH Society is also extremely grateful for the ongoing support of the Frederick community, which continues to
embrace our Mission and our goal to open the Frederick African American Heritage Center in 2023.
In June, the Community Service Fund of Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ awarded a $1,000 unrestricted grant to AARCH Society through the Community Foundation of Frederick County. That same month, The Isaiah Charles Brown Memorial Fund donated $500 in unrestricted funds to AARCH Society through the Community Foundation of Frederick County. This gift, made at the recommendation of Dr. Denise Rollins, as well as the Evangelical Reformed Church gift, will be utilized for operating and program costs at AARCH Society.
In July, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick (UUCF) chose AARCH Society as the recipient of its split-
plate program, which donates half of a service’s collections to a local non-profit organization. AARCH Society President Protean Gibril presented to UUCF members earlier in the month. “We look forward to strengthening congregational support for the AARCH Society’s mission and working toward a community with justice for all,” said UCC member Carol Antoniewicz.
AARCH Society is grateful for this community support and partnership and has a special note of thanks for UUCF member Joe Ginorio, who composed a song in honor of AARCH Society: Listen to “Freedom Rings” here.
- 1
- 1-2 of 2 results