The Wallace Stegner House, in Eastend, has been awarded a grant of $5,000 from the Innovation Credit Union’s Legacy Community & Development Grant Fund.
The funds will be utilized to install informative signage and transform the house's yard into a community space, allowing visitors to engage with the renowned author's legacy.
Shelley Morvik, the Treasurer of the Eastend Arts Council, expressed her excitement about the grant and the upcoming project.
"We applied for the grant and received it," Morvik stated. "Our project is to put up some signage at the Wallace Stegner House. The signage that we want to put up will explain all the work he's done, his childhood, a little bit about his family life, and his academic life, and then we want to also create some signs that explain what the house does for artists around the world and how the Arts Council brings the arts to the community, but also, we have a global audience as well.”
The Eastend Arts Council obtained the rights to didactics from the University of Los Altos in California, which previously showcased a comprehensive display on Wallace Stegner.
Morvik also mentioned plans to transform the house's yard into a welcoming community space.
As the Wallace Stegner House functions as a year-round artists' retreat, visitors are unable to enter the house itself in order to maintain the artists' privacy and workspace.
The yard will serve as a place for the community and tourists to explore, providing an opportunity to appreciate the historic significance of the house and its surroundings.
“People come and want to see the house, but they can't go into the house,” Morvik elaborated. “So, we thought if we could put some signs up and make it a beautiful display that is landscaped in the backyard and attached to the well that is still there that has a plaque on it already explaining a little bit about Wallace Stegner. Just continue that so that people and tourists have a place to come and look. That's why it would be a community space, it would just be free to walk through at any time.”
The $5,000 grant will serve as an excellent starting point for the project, according to Morvik. However, the Eastend Arts Council is actively seeking additional sponsorships to further support the initiative.
They hope to secure a matching grant from Southwest Art Fest, an event they have been invited to participate in this year.
The timeline for the project's completion is yet to be determined, however, the council is aiming for next spring or fall.
She also noted that the didactics were purchased some time ago, however urgent repairs such as the roof took precedence.
Reflecting on the significance of the grant, Morvik emphasized the importance of giving back to the community and promoting the region's cultural heritage.
“It's just huge," she stated. "We've had the didactic for some time now, we probably purchased them three years ago, so getting the funding to do this is amazing. It's been a dream of ours for a while."