SPRINGDALE — The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History will unveil its new public space and announce its name in a ribbon-cutting ceremony and news conference at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4.
The space features a performance area, benches and an art canopy in the museum’s front yard at 118 W. Johnson Ave.
The project’s design and naming were the result of community input. In 2023, Project for Public Spaces awarded an $80,000 Community Placemaking Grant with support from the Walton Family Foundation to help the Shiloh Museum make history and culture engaging for all. During a public workshop, community members brainstormed their ideas on the kind of features they would like to see. The front space was the result with construction by Natural State Treehouses and EO Space.
The museum also solicited the public to come up with a canopy design. Elizabeth Ray of Bentonville was chosen, and her designs will be presented at the Sept. 4 event. Ray’s work has been featured in magazines, festivals and exhibits, including the International Quilt Festival, National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky, and the U.S. Embassy in Algiers.
Lastly, the museum held a contest to name the public space. It received 80 entries, which a juried committee narrowed down to three that went to a public vote. The new name and winners (two people submitted the same name) will also be announced.
Shiloh was one of three Northwest Arkansas nonprofits or public agencies to receive a Community Placemaking Grant from Project for Public Spaces in Spring 2023 with funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The other recipients were the Mount Sequoyah Center in Fayetteville for improvements to its overlook and adjacent grounds and the City of Pea Ridge for improvements to its city park.
The Community Placemaking Grants initiative was developed to give more people the opportunity to shape the places they use every day. Launched in fall of 2021, this initiative connects U.S.-based nonprofit organizations and government agencies to funding to transform the public spaces they steward, as well as technical assistance and capacity building facilitated by Project for Public Spaces.
