Piedmont Arts is all abuzz with a $1,000 Green Grant for their Community Beautification plans, as part of our 13th annual Green Grants Program.
Located in the heart of Martinsville’s Arts and Cultural District in Southwest Virginia, Piedmont Arts is an award-winning art museum that curates thought-provoking exhibitions by international, national and regional artists. The museum also offers performing arts, from concerts to plays to children’s performances, and art classes for all ages. Educational programming is offered for students of all ages, including in gallery classes, as well as organizing events for in-school outreach. Piedmont Arts is the hub for arts of all varieties and arts education in Martinsville and Henry County.
Funds provided by the Green Grants award will be used to purchase beehives, beekeeping supplies, and bees for the Art Garden and attached pollinator garden trail.
The beekeeping program will take place along the pollinator path, which is located on an area of unused land that runs from the museum’s parking lot to the Gravely-Lester Art Garden. The pathway is made of ADA-compliant crush-and-run gravel to create an accessible and beautiful space that will function as a trail and community garden. Martinsville is a Bee City, meaning the city is dedicated to the protection and stewardship of native pollinators. The pathway will be lined with garden plots and raised beds that can be adopted by the community that will be filled with native and noninvasive pollinator plants.
The garden will have a compost station and educational signage posted throughout so that even people who do not want to plant and maintain a garden can still learn from the pollinator. Piedmont Arts is working to create opportunities for local artists to paint signage, birdhouses, and other structures so the garden path will be filled with compelling and beautiful artwork.
The bees and butterflies will thank you by pollinating the flowers and gardens that you’re planting!
