Uniontown Community Development Association is one of 80 grantees selected nationwide
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced today the award of 80 Our Town grants to communities in 44 states for work on “creative placemaking”. The Uniontown Community Development Association is one of the grantees, and will be working to enhance the identity of Uniontown as a center of creativity.
Through Our Town, the NEA supports creative placemaking projects that help transform communities into lively, attractive, and sustainable places. The NEA funded projects will encourage creative activity, create community identity, enhance the sense of place, and help revitalize local economies. All Our Town grant awards are made to partnerships that consisted of a minimum of a not-for-profit organization and a local government entity.
The Uniontown placemaking project will be led by the Uniontown Community Development Association with assistance provided by the Washington State University Rural Design Initiative, Hutchison and Maul Architects, Artisans at the Dahmen Barn, the Uniontown Planning Commission and residents of the Uniontown and Colton communities. The project will include the development of:
A plan for a bike/pedestrian path between Uniontown and the Colton School.
Public art to be installed at the entries to the Uniontown community.
A site and landscaping plan for the Dahmen Barn site and field.
A design for the expansion of the Dahmen Barn including an amphitheater stage.
Uniontown, Washington, is in the center of the rural area known as the Palouse, which includes southeastern Washington and north central Idaho.
From its beginning, the community became primarily an agricultural service and retail center, but the need for these services in a small rural town declined over the past 50 years. In the mid 1990s, community volunteers began working to help reinvent the town.
In 2002, the Uniontown Community Development Association (UCDA) was formed. The first project was the restoration of an historic building, now used by an old style craftsman bakery.
In 2004, UCDA took on the challenge of restoring the Dahmen Barn, to provide a community arts space with studios, classrooms, performance space, and a cooperative retail shop. The Artisans at the Dahmen Barn was opened in 2006.
Contact: Dale Miller, dalemiller41@gmail.com, 509-229-3655
Leslee Miller, Uniontown resident and manager of Artisans at the Dahmen Barn, said, “We are flattered that our tiny, rural community has received this national recognition and funding for our work. A path between Uniontown and Colton has been a dream for decades. This funding will bring it one step closer to reality."
NEA Chairman Landesman, said, "Cities and towns are transformed when you bring the arts – both literally and figuratively – into the center of them. From Teller, Alaska to Miami, Florida, communities are pursuing creative placemaking, making their neighborhoods more vibrant and robust by investing in the performing, visual, and literary arts. I am proud to be partnering with these 80 communities and their respective arts, civic, and elected leaders."
The NEA received 317 applications for Our Town that were assigned to one of three application review panels based on their project type; arts engagement, cultural planning and design, or non-metro and tribal communities.
The Uniontown Community Development Association (UCDA) is the project manager. The purpose of the Association includes combating community deterioration, promoting the social welfare of the community and reversing the decline in employment opportunities. UCDA is managed and operated by a volunteer board of directors. The Town of Uniontown will work primarily through the Planning Commission to assist with general development planning, co-sponsoring community workshops and facilitating community involvement.
Additional partners include the Artisans at the Dahmen Barn non-profit corporation, the Washington State University Rural Community Design Initiative and Hutchison & Maul Architects.
The Artisans at the Dahmen Barn organization was set up in 2009 to manage the day to day operation of the artisan programs and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The artisans will coordinate the selection and installation of the public at the entries to the Town.
WSU Rural Community Design program will incorporate the development and landscaping plan for the site in their fall semester work, and the development of the bike/pedestrian path plan in the spring semester studio work.
Hutchison & Maul Architects will provide the design development for accessory building(s) and the amphitheater stage.
The town of Colton and the Colton/Uniontown School District are supporting participants. Additional support is being provided by the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association and the business development department of Avista utilities. These organizations will be involved in reviewing plans and designs and facilitating community participation.
Competition was strong, and only 80 projects were selected. Uniontown’s project is the only proposal that was funded in the State of Washington, a testament to the excellence and merit of the proposal submitted by the Uniontown Community Development Association.
