At its founding in 1995, the Sandisfield Arts Center (formal name, Sandisfield Arts and Restoration Committee) set a two-fold mission:
To preserve our historic building and provide cultural and educational programs for our community.
In recent years, we have been aided in the first part of that mission by two matching grants from the 1772 Foundation, whose grantmaking specifically “focuses on advancing historic preservation with a strong emphasis on inclusivity, environmental sustainability, and community engagement.”
2021-2022: Repair the foundation in a historically-correct way
The first, in 2021 and completed in 2022, was to address problems with our foundation, specifically:
To repoint the granite block foundation of our building where necessary and to remove and replace the anachronistic and visually obtrusive gray Portland mortar used to repoint a portion of the foundation at the front of the building. To select an historically accurate mortar that will be consistent with the remains of the original, we will have the advice of George Wheeler of Highbridge Materials Consulting.
We are very fortunate in Sandisfield to have such residents experts as George Wheeler, and with his guidance we were able to have the work completed by a company expert in repairing such historic foundations.
2024: Repair and prevent future water damage!
In 2024, we applied to another matching grant from the 1772 Foundation for a grant for a second problem not uncommon to historic buildings with poor water drainage: damaged cladding at the back of the building. With this funding, we have been able to repair the water damage, add drainage to prevent future damage, and replace cladding at the back of the building.
This grant also contributed to a strong foundation for important building improvements for our Building Our Future Together project and capital campaign to prepare the building for our next 30 years.
It is matching grants such as those from the 1772 Foundation that allow the “dynamic preservation” that is their guiding philosophy and so vital to community arts organizations like ours that are dedicated to preserving their historic buildings.
Before:
Repair in progress:
