In August of 2020 Inspiring Community, as planned, handed over the Broske Center to the City of Platteville
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This postcard from the early 1900s shows the first Art Hall, the building with the cupola.
Grants Awarded
Platteville Art, Trails, & History (PATH): Chalk & Cheese Fest
PATH was awarded $1,000 for Chalk & Cheese Fest which is an outdoor chalk art event that takes place in Platteville's City Park, featuring nationally recognized artists and local creators. This event is open to artists, of all ages and abilities, who are interest in creating colorful artwork on the sidewalks. Visitors are welcomed to view the art while enjoying live music, food trucks, and other activities throughout the day.
The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums
A total of $700 was awarded to The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums for Winter Lyceum, Friends Annual Meeting and Program, Historic Re-enactment, and Heritage Day.
The Winter Lyceum consisted of seven Zoom Webinars, each Sunday between February 20th and April 3rd, including topics such as "An Overview of Wisconsin Mining History" and "From Zinc Miner to Dartmouth College President". These webinars had guest speakers to share their unique stories, histories, and insights.
The annual meeting serves as a museum fundraiser and encourages visitors to join, renew, or make their annual gift. It also takes time to thank their volunteers, donors, and board members.
The Annual Meeting is free for 2022 member of the Friends of the Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums and donors over $35. It includes a review of the year’s accomplishments at Museums as well as
hors d’oeuvres and time to socialize with other visitors.
Heritage Day takes place on July 4th and celebrates Platteville’s rich history and bright future. Visitors are able to indulge in a day of games, historical demonstrations, special exhibits, live music, and food.
The Platteville Historic Re-enactment is a three-day event that showcases the history of America’s Upper Mississippi Valley from the mid-1700s to 1840. This event was first held in 1998 and features educators, artisans, and
re-enactors who provide a hands-on living history experience for all visitors.
Platteville Dairy Days
In 2021, Inspiring Community granted $200 to Platteville's annual Dairy Days celebration.
Dairy Days supports and promotes the agriculture community in Platteville and the surrounding area by providing agriculture education to the public and promoting public awareness in the community.
Rountree Gallery/F.O.G. Exhibit
In 2020, Inspiring Community was one of many to sponsor Rountree Gallery's "A Life. From Dirt." exhibit by Pete Curran. Curran is the author of "When I Listened to a Farmer", a book including photographs and lyrical stories of America's Original Entrepreneurs.
Inspiring Community gave a $200 grant to the Annual Southwest Health Golf Outing in both 2019 and 2020.
Retirement of Mary Huck, Education Coordinator
In recognition of Mary’s 32+ years of service to the Platteville community as education coordinator of our museums, Inspiring Community donated $1,000 to the Friends of the Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums to support continued education programming.
Mary has given tirelessly of her service to the museums, to the Historic Re-enactment, to the Library Foundation and to the Platteville Main Street program. A graduate of Marquette, Mary brought her skills and passions for history to Platteville after working as an interpreter at Old World Wisconsin and as an elementary school teacher. There is no doubt that Mary exemplifies the tenets of collaboration, leadership and volunteerism.
Grant for Landscaping of Roundabout
Inspiring Community was pleased to provide a grant of $1,500 for the landscaping of the roundabout at the junction of Water and Madison Streets in the City of Platteville.
It is our belief that this roundabout is at a significant entrance to our City and that its landscaping will lead to a positive and warm welcome for our visitors as well as build pride in our population. Planted last fall, the plants are nicely filling the space their first summer.
Grant Writing
One part of the mission of Inspiring Community, Inc. is providing grant writing support to nonprofit organizations. Recently Inspiring Community has helped with grants written for the Platteville Nutrition Program, Chalk and Cheese Fest, and the Legion Park Event Center.
Angie Wright is a freelance grant professional who works with nonprofit organizations and municipalities to secure funding to help them reach their goals. Angie worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 12 years and is in her sixth year as a freelancer. She has extensive experience in project development, prospect research, and proposal writing. She holds a MS in Forest Resources/Natural Resource Social Science from Oregon State University and a BA in International Relations, Latin American Studies, and Portuguese from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Angie is passionate about community development, conservation, and collaboration. She strives to make a difference and do her part to make the world a little better. Angie currently serves on the board of the PHS Scholarship Fund and Inspiring Community, Inc. and is the Treasurer for the Rotary Club of Southwest Wisconsin/Platteville. When she is not on deadline, Angie likes to ride her bike on the rural roads of Southwest Wisconsin, bake crusty sourdough bread, knit, and spend time with her family.
At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.
-Denzel Washington