Efforts To Open Museum At Valley Falls In Vernon Get Financial Boost

VERNON, CT — The Friends of Valley Falls organization has been awarded a $6,200 Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant from CT Humanities that be used to for a program aimed at creating a new "heritage center" at Valley Falls Farm.

"This generous grant will continue to help the Friends obtain assistance and guidance as we get closer to opening up this unique museum in the Spring of 2023," Friends Vice President Maryann Levesque said. "In 2022, we celebrated 50 years of service to the public, and now we look forward to opening a Heritage Center that will allow the community to visit the unique buildings and beautiful property, and learn more about the role it played in Vernon's history."

The funds are intended to provide operating support to community organizations still recovering from the pandemic in order to maintain and expand services and programs to the community. Eligibility for grant funding required an organization to have a core mission dedicated to conducting museum, cultural, humanities and/or arts activities that serve the public.

The Friends of Valley Falls, established in 1972, is volunteer group working to preserve nature and history at Valley Falls Farm and Park. Since purchasing Valley Falls Farm in 2001, the non- profit has improved the property and is creating a Heritage Center that will open to the public in Spring 2023.

The museum’s artifacts are designed to connect the people of today with the people who once farmed the land.

The Friends of Valley Falls was one of 725 organizations in Connecticut to receive a CT Cultural Operating Support Grant. Totaling $8.5 million, the grants are part of a two-year, $30.7 million investment in arts, humanities, and cultural nonprofit organizations by the Connecticut General Assembly and Gov. Ned Lamont. The grant is provided by CT Humanities with funding from the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts from the Connecticut State Legislature.