SAVE AMERICA'S TREASURES ANNOUNCES $9.5 MILLION IN GRANTS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) and the National Park Service (NPS), jointly announced the awarding of $9.5 million in federal competitive Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grants, which are made in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). With these funds, 41 organizations and agencies will act to conserve significant U.S. cultural and historic treasures, which illustrate, interpret and are associated with the great events, ideas, and individuals that contribute to our nation’s history and culture. Save America’s Treasures is marking its 10th anniversary, and it has made more than 500 competitive grants to ensure our nation’s cultural and historic legacy. “Save America's Treasures invests in our nation's irreplaceable legacy of buildings, documents, collections and artistic works," said First Lady Michelle Obama, Honorary Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. “These awards empower communities all over the country to rescue and restore this priceless heritage, and ensure that future generations continue to learn from the voices, ideas, events and people represented by these projects.” The 41 projects awarded competitive grants this year address the preservation needs of the structures, places, documents, artistic works and artifacts that are deemed most significant to the nation. Several projects highlight this country’s rich architectural legacy from two rare surviving 17th century houses of worship to the works of leading 19th century and 20th century of American architects like David Burnham, Stanford White and Frank Lloyd Wright. Rare first-hand accounts of modern dance’s beginnings are told in photographs at Jacobs Pillow; the ideas and aspirations of post-war Americans are captured on tape from This I Believe radio program; and a window on a lost Native American culture is revealed in 18th century Friendly Association Papers. These and the other SAT projects all confront a range of threats from decay with some facing imminent collapse or extinction. These funds will ensure that this cultural and historic legacy can be experienced by the next generation of artists, scholars, students and citizens. Save America’s Treasures preserves our nation’s most significant and endangered cultural and historic treasures, which illustrate, interpret, and embody the great events, ideas, and individuals that contribute to America’s history and culture. It is a unique public-private partnership administered by the National Park Service and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in cooperation with the nation’s cultural agencies NEA, NEH and IMLS and the program’s private partner, Save America’s Treasures at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Washington Chapel Car 5 Messenger of Peace, Snoqualmie – $180,000 The Chapel Car Messenger of Peace, a wooden rail car built in 1898, traveled the country for 50 years as a mobile church bringing modern evangelism to the frontier and helping to establish churches in numerous communities. With grant assistance, deteriorated structural components, windows, siding and roofing, and other features will be repaired and replaced, restoring the Chapel Car to its 1920 appearance.