Awbury Arboretum is excited to announce the award of a generous two-year grant for comprehensive signage at the Arboretum from the William Penn Foundation Creative Communities program, which funds arts, culture, and public space projects and initiatives that reflect the diversity of the region’s people, their cultural traditions, and their everyday lives.

 

 

The grant will cover the design, manufacture, and installation of three main entrance signs to welcome visitors, several kiosks with maps and bulletin boards, trail markers, directional signs, interpretive signs, and key plant markers. Funding will also cover hardscaping and landscaping around the entrance signs and maintenance for the first five years. Awbury will meet with partners, community members, and other stakeholders over the next few weeks to inform the project priorities. An open, town hall community meeting will take place in mid-January. Check our weekly email for details as they develop.

 

The William Penn Foundation, founded in 1945 by Otto and Phoebe Haas, is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Greater Philadelphia region through efforts that increase educational opportunities for children from low-income families, ensure a sustainable environment, provide inclusive and equitable public spaces and arts and culture experiences, and advance philanthropy in the Philadelphia region.

 

Cloud Gehshan Design, a nationally renowned design firm located in Philadelphia, will oversee signage design. Their previous work includes signage at Camden Children’s Aquarium, the National Air and Space Museum, Temple University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Fairmount Park, among many other notable sites.

 

Philadelphia landscape architecture firm Studio | Bryan Hanes, whose work includes Awbury’s AdventureWoods NaturalMaterials Playground, the Sister Cities Garden at Logan Square, Clark Park, and many other landscapes in the greater Philadelphia Metropolitan area and beyond, will design landscaping for the project.

 

More welcoming entrance signage and improved directional signage have long been a dream of Awbury Arboretum, community focus groups, and neighborhood organizations have consistently stressed that better signage is a mandatory component of neighborhood inclusion. We welcome you to join us in the journey toward greater community involvement–bring your ideas and input to our meeting in January!