FOREST CITY – Heritage Park of North Iowa is pleased to announce that it has received a Rural Arts Development Project Grant from the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. Grant funds will support the International Festival at Heritage Park on June 27-28, 2015.
The Rural Arts Development Project Grant supports arts projects that positively affect the quality of life in rural Iowa. With this support, the International Festival seeks to build respect and appreciation for the diversity in North Iowa.
“We are so grateful for this public funding from the Iowa Arts Council and the opportunity to celebrate the world at Heritage Park,” said Audrey Holtan Olmstead, chair of the International Festival steering committee and curator of Heritage Park of North Iowa. “We served almost 1,500 people last year, and we are planning on even more this year. By celebrating our diversity through the arts, we can build community and a lifetime of respect for each other!
The International Festival is supported by many community organizations and volunteers to bring our two-day, family-friendly festival to the region. It is a celebration of global heritage, food, music, dance, art and games for all ages. It will include a walking parade for all, educational demonstrations, delicacies in the World Kitchen, an ecumenical service Sunday morning at Beaver Creek Church and lots of hands-on fun. FREE ADMISSION with an item for local food banks.
Funding for the Rural Arts Development Project Grant is made possible by an annual appropriation from the Iowa Legislature to the Arts Division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs (Iowa Arts Council) and by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
The International Festival at Heritage Park is an event of the Heritage Park Project Committee, which is overseen by the Winnebago Historical Society, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization housed in the 1899 Mansion Museum at 336 N. Clark St., in Forest City. Heritage Park is a 91-acre open-air museum on the south edge of Forest City. Its main entrance is near the intersection of B14 and U.S. Highway 69. GPS coordinates: 1811 Sage Court. The WHS mission is to bring history to life by educating children and adults through the Mansion Museum, reintroducing families to their past through the Leibrand-Whiteis Historical Center, and recreating the lives and livelihoods of our ancestors at Heritage Park of North Iowa.
For more information, check the International Festival page on the Heritage Park website, as well as the festival’s Facebook page.
The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is responsible for developing the state’s interest in the areas of the arts, history and other cultural matters with the advice and assistance from its two divisions: the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council. DCA preserves, researches, interprets and promotes an awareness and understanding of local, state and regional history and stimulates and encourages the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts and public interest and participation in them. It implements tourism-related art and history projects as directed by the General Assembly and designs a comprehensive, statewide, long-range plan with the assistance of the Iowa Arts Council to develop the arts in Iowa.
