Missouri Folk Arts Program Joins National Marker Program Celebrating Folklore

COLUMBIA, Mo. February 25, 2020 — Intriguing stories from Missouri’s rich heritage of folklore will be featured on roadside markers at locations across the state thanks to a partnership between the Missouri Arts Council’s Missouri Folk Arts Program (MFAP) at University of Missouri and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.

Established by the Pomeroy Foundation in 2015, the Legends & Lore program helps communities celebrate local folklore and legends with roadside markers. MFAP will serve as a grant evaluator for the Pomeroy Foundation’s expanding national Legends & Lore Marker Grant Program, helping to put Missouri folklore in the spotlight.

MFAP builds cross-cultural understanding by documenting, sustaining, and presenting the state’s living folk arts and folklife in collaboration with Missouri’s citizens. A partner of the Missouri Arts Council, a division of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, MFAP is based at the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri.

“We are excited to join colleagues across the country as a Legends & Lore state partner – and to be the first to represent the Midwest,” says Lisa L. Higgins, director of the Missouri Folk Arts Program. “Missouri’s bicentennial is just over a year away, and we’ve already witnessed an abundance of creative activities in anticipation of 2021. This is an inspiring time and we expect Legends & Lore will encourage local communities to mark the Show-Me state’s unique culture in an enduring way.”

The Pomeroy Foundation is a private grant-making foundation based in Syracuse, New York. The Foundation helps people celebrate their community’s history through a variety of historic roadside marker programs, including Legends & Lore. The Foundation’s grants cover the entire cost of a marker, pole, and shipping.

“The Pomeroy Foundation is pleased to partner with the Missouri Folk Arts Program on our expanding Legends & Lore program,” says Bill Pomeroy, founder and trustee of the Pomeroy Foundation. “We feel this is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the folklore near and dear to Missouri. We’re proud to work with your communities in celebrating and preserving your folklore and legends.”

As a Legends & Lore grant evaluator, MFAP will be responsible for reviewing applications, as well as confirming the legitimacy and accuracy of folklore and legends that applicants in Missouri intend to commemorate on a marker. Legends & Lore marker grants are available to 501(c)(3) organizations, nonprofit academic institutions, and local, state, and federal government entities in Missouri. Grant applicants may submit during two application windows in 2020. Grant Round 1 opens on Monday, March 23, 2020; application deadline is Friday, May 1, 2020. Grant Round 2 opens on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020; application deadline is Friday, Oct. 2, 2020.

The Pomeroy Foundation has funded more than 70 Legends & Lore roadside markers to commemorate fascinating local stories. One of those markers celebrates Ichabod Crane and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” It’s said that this famous Washington Irving character was based on a real schoolteacher named Jesse Merwin in Kinderhook, New York. Another example is a Legends & Lore marker located Talcott, West Virginia, recognizing the folk hero John Henry and the famed story of his race against a steam drill.

For program details and how to apply, visit wgpfoundation.org/history/legends-lore.

About the Missouri Folk Arts Program

The Missouri Folk Arts Program (MFAP) is a program of the Missouri Arts Council, a division of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and the Museum of Art and Archaeology at Missouri’s flagship university campus. Established in 1984, MFAP builds cross-cultural understanding by documenting, sustaining, and presenting our state’s living folk arts and folklife in collaboration with Missouri’s citizens. One of over 40 state programs around the United States, MFAP has provided programs and services to traditional artists, organizations, and their local communities for over three decades. MFAP is funded through the University, grants from the Missouri Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts, as well as individual donors. mofolkarts.missouri.edu

About the Pomeroy Foundation

The William G. Pomeroy Foundation is a private, grant-making foundation established in 2005. The Foundation is committed to supporting the celebration and preservation of community history; and to raising awareness, supporting research and improving the quality of care for patients and their families who are facing a blood cancer diagnosis. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than 1,000 roadside markers and plaques nationwide. wgpfoundation.org

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CONTACT:  Lisa L. Higgins, director, HigginsLL@missouri.edu, 573-882-6296, mofolkarts.missouri.edu