“THE NINE MUSES”: This work by Carlos Dorrien can be found at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, which was recently awarded more than $100,000 to support three key initiatives. (Photo by David Michael Howarth Photography)

Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) in Hamilton has been awarded significant grants from The Bunbury Fund at the Princeton Area Community Foundation, The Horizon Foundation of New Jersey (The Horizon Foundation), and M & T Charitable Foundation (M &T). As a result of this funding, GFS will continue its capacity building work; pilot a social prescribing program through a partnership with Penn Medicine Princeton Health (PMPH); and bolster its participation in the Families First Discovery Pass Program (FFDP), which underwrites tickets to GFS for low-income families and individuals in New Jersey. Together, these three initiatives will contribute to the sculpture park’s strategic vision by sustaining and enriching its commitment to building communities and growing connectivity with its visitors.

“We’re delighted these three foundations are generously supporting Grounds For Sculpture,” said Gary Garrido Schneider, GFS executive director. “While we continue to build our organizational capacity, we’ll also be able to provide more visitors with the opportunity to experience the joy and restorative power of our art-filled gardens.”

A $100,000 grant from The Bunbury Fund will allow GFS to engage two experts to accomplish strategic capacity building initiatives, both of which will help the sculpture park further its EDI Action Plan. The Community Fund previously provided support for a multi-year scope of work focused on EDI, which was led by the firm Tangible Development. With this renewed funding, GFS will work on the next phase of its capacity-building initiative and implementation of the Plan. The first portion of the Fund’s support will go towards purchasing and creating a customized diversity dashboard. The key information the dashboard will feature was refined by a cross-departmental GFS working group throughout 2024, and aggregates key visitor, member, staff, board, volunteer, and artist data. The remaining support will address pay and job descriptions; there will be a comprehensive survey, pay review, and pay equity analysis, and job descriptions will be revised and/or redesigned. Both capacity building initiatives will help GFS reach its long-term EDI goals and objectives in its 2018-2028 strategic vision.

GFS has received a grant in the amount of $20,000 from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. The award was made through The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey and will fund the Prescription to Arts, Nature, and Wellbeing at GFS – A Social Prescribing Program. Social prescription is the practice of prescribing social activities to improve patient wellbeing through a meaningful activity. Social activities like visiting a museum or park, joining a community group, or taking a dance class all meet these criteria. By virtue of being a sculpture park, GFS affords Social Prescribing Program participants the chance to interact with art and nature with the goal of improving their health.

GFS has also been awarded a grant from The M & T Charitable Foundation (M & T). These funds will be used to support the sculpture park’s participation in the Families First Discovery Pass program (FFDP program). As a member of the FFDP program, GFS is able to offer its arts and horticulture experiences to low-income families and individuals across the state of New Jersey by providing general admission tickets at no cost to the program participant. As equitable access continues to be a focus at the sculpture park, this funding helps GFS reach new audiences.

“We’re excited to have additional support for our participation in the Families First Discovery Pass program this year,” said Sam Hwang, GFS director of guest services. “This will allow us to further our involvement in this program, which welcomed over 8,000 individuals last year.”

For more information, visit groundsforsculpture.org.