Legends & Lore Roadside Marker Grant Program

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. Grant Round 1 typically opens in March with an application deadline in May. Grant Round 2 typically opens in August with an application deadline in October.

The Pomeroy Foundation has funded more than 100 Legends & Lore roadside markers in 11 states to commemorate fascinating local stories.

[adapted and updated from 2020 press release]