Community Response Needed Now to Leverage
Newly Received Grant from The Cabell Foundation

Winchester, VA 11/23/2018 . . . Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) Executive Director Dana Hand Evans today announced that a challenge grant received from The Cabell Foundation of Richmond means the MSV could achieve its fundraising goal for The Trails at the MSV if the community donates $182,000 by December 31 of this year.

Combined with an existing matching grant from the Glass–Glen Burnie Foundation, The Cabell Foundation grant means that every dollar donated for the project through year’s end is matched at a rate of three to one.

“This is an amazing opportunity, and community response is critical now if we are to achieve it,” says Evans, who explains that because the deadline for matching funds from the Glass–Glen Burnie Foundation is December 31, failure to raise the needed remaining $182,000 by that time forfeits the three-to-one matching opportunity.

With a total project goal now up to $9 million—due to rising construction costs over the past year and a required expansion of the storm water management system to accommodate future improvements to the entire MSV site—these matching grants effectively mean the MSV has had to raise less than half the project cost from other sources, including individual donors, businesses, and state and private grants. Now, says Director Evans, these matching grants provide the community with an unprecedented chance to leverage its contributions and achieve what will be the largest art park in the state of Virginia.

The Trails at the MSV project will open 90 acres of the 214-acre MSV landscape to the public as a free-admission park with more than 3 miles of trails for walking, hiking, and biking. Traversing through fields, woods, and wetlands, the trails will be accentuated with outdoor art installations. The project preserves more than 80 acres of the MSV landscape—the largest green space in the City of Winchester—as farm fields where cows will continue to graze.

Along with providing trails available on a year-round basis, the project includes a new Amherst Street entrance and access road into the MSV site, new environmentally friendly parking lots at the trailhead and in front of the museum building, a new storm water management system for the site, and scenic overlooks.

The Trails at the MSV, on which construction of funded portions has already begun, will connect to the City of Winchester’s Green Circle and be accessible from pedestrian entrances near the Old John Kerr School (future Winchester Public School Innovation Center), at the end of Jefferson Street, and at the northeastern corner of the MSV property on Amherst Street (near the Wellspring building).

Those interested in donating to the project may do so at www.theMSV.org/Trails. To encourage community participation, the MSV is launching a “Trailsgiving” promotion. From November 26 through December 31, one donor from the previous week will be drawn to win a tote bag emblazoned with the trails logo and including a refillable trails water bottle and a thermal trails wine glass. Winners will be announced on social media and contacted by the MSV.

Additional information about The Trails at the MSV, including a site map and a list of frequently asked questions, is also available online at www.theMSV.org/Trails.

A regional cultural center that attracts nearly 72,000 visitors yearly and has more than 2,100 members, the MSV is located at 901 Amherst Street in Winchester, Virginia. The MSV includes galleries, the Glen Burnie House, and seven acres of gardens; in Fiscal Year 2017–18, the Museum presented 335 programs that engaged 23,559 people of all ages. The galleries and exhibitions are open year-round; the house and gardens are open April through December.–END–