Connellsville Public Art Open House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Amy Camp Trail Town Program® Manager (724) 216-9160 ext. 318 acamp@progressfund.org

Community members invited to discuss public art Sculpture planned for in Yough River Park in Connellsville Greensburg, PA – March 15, 2011 – Community members are encouraged to join the Trail Town Program® and the Fayette County Cultural Trust at ArtWorks Connellsville on March 22 from 5-7 p.m. for a meet a greet with Confluence artist Jody Best.

Jody has been commissioned to create a sculpture at the intersection of 1st and 3rd streets in Connellsville, on the edge of Yough River Park and adjacent to the Great Allegheny Passage. The planned sculpture will honor the area’s cultural heritage.

“I believe that obtaining input from the area residents is very important as we continue to rebuild our city. The arts play an integral role in a sustainable community and including them is one goal of the Downtown Connellsville initiative,” says Michael Edwards, Executive Director of the Connellsville Redevelopment Authority.

The sculpture is planned to be installed late this summer as part of an overall site improvement project at 1st and 3rd streets. It will add to more than a dozen public art installations already in place on or near the Great Allegheny Passage.

Jody and the partner organizations invite community members to attend this open house to meet the artist, hear about her concept, and contribute input. This project was supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. ArtWorks Connellsville is located at 139 West Crawford Avenue, Connellsville, PA. About the Trail Town Program® and Great Allegheny Passage The Trail Town Program® is an economic development initiative of The Progress Fund that was developed in conjunction with the Allegheny Trail

Alliance, and other key partners to realize the economic benefit of the Great Allegheny Passage. The GAP stretches 135 miles from Cumberland, MD, to Duquesne, PA, near Pittsburgh. The trail is anticipated to reach Point State Park in Pittsburgh in November of 2011, completing the 335mile non-motorized route between Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. More than $40 million in direct annual spending and another $7.5 million in wages are attributed to Great Allegheny Passage trail use. To learn more about the Trail Town Program速, please visit www.trailtowns.org. To learn more about the Great Allegheny Passage, visit www.gaptrail.org. ### The Progress Fund is a vigorous non-profit loan fund that creates jobs and improves communities by providing entrepreneurial coaching and capital to small businesses in the travel & tourism industry. The Progress Fund serves 39 counties in Pennsylvania, Appalachian Ohio, Western Maryland, and the entire state of West Virginia. The Progress Fund was founded in 1997, and has made 349 loans totaling more than $36 million to 205 enterprises, creating or preserving more than 2,350 jobs.

The Progress Fund is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The Trail Town Program is an initiative of The Progress Fund.

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