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A m e r i c a n M u r a l P r o j e c t
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April 2009
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We have an incredibly busy month ahead, with action on many fronts. Our new Membership Campaign is underway, we're organizing our first Members' Reception and open houses at our future home in Winsted, and state projects continue across the country.
In a very exciting development, the National Federation of Women's Clubs in Connecticut has voted to organize and run a fundraiser for AMP this fall in Hartford. It is already clear that this is a very powerful group, capable of accomplishing almost anything they set out to do. Our next newsletter will have more details; for now, get excited.
Sincerely, Ellen Griesedieck
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 Membership Campaign
Last week, volunteers gathered at the Sharon studio to help with the membership mailing, stuffing 1600 envelopes. Thanks to Kim Hohlfeld, Judy Albright, Lisa Gafney, Bonnie Kerr, Michelle Burns of the Sharon Women's Club, Cynthia Conklin, and Meg Youngberg - for helping us do a job that normally takes a week in a record two days.
Last year, 172 people of all ages who believed in the dream of the American Mural Project became charter members. AMP's membership dollars helped to introduce the mural and its spirit of collaboration, community, and ingenuity to hundreds of school kids. At the same time, we crossed the halfway mark in our fundraising goal, with over $2.7M raised.
After 10 years of dreaming about it, we are about to renovate the mill building and begin the mural's installation. Our fundraising is vital to these plans. We need you, once again, to AMP up.
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 McKinley Students Visit AMP
Last Wednesday and Thursday, 68 5th graders from McKinley School (New Fairfield, CT) came to the studio to meet Ellen and learn about AMP. Each student made a portrait of someone whose work he or she admired. Half of each portrait was a part of a picture of the subject, the other half the student's drawing. Subjects included Barack Obama, Roberto Clemente, relatives of students, and FDR.
These visits to the studio have inspired us to begin tours of the Winsted building on selected weekends from this spring, as soon as the weather warms up, through the fall. We're working on a website calendar to keep you updated on these events.
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 AMP at FIRST Competition
This year, AMP has been invited to set up a booth at the annual FIRST Robotics Competition in the Georgia Dome,
on April 17-19. Jaine Perotti will be taking a few days away from her oceanography classes at Florida Tech to join Ellen in Atlanta. Together they will be giving students information on the Space Studies projects and explaining how to get involved. With over 10,000 kids at this event, Jaine and
Ellen will be pretty busy. Ellen says, "When it comes to robotics and space studies, only one of us knows what we are talking about."
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 Healthcorps Project
Mehmet Oz's Healthcorps Organization will once again be holding their Health Fair in four boroughs of New York City on May 30th. At the AMP booth, Ellen will be working with kids to paint tongue depressors for a giant sculpture of them that will for a section of the mural. We now have 1,200 of them, and they are fabulous. After Ellen was on Mehmet's radio show, Oprah and Friends, last month, she is sure Mehmet is anxious to let her know how well it went.
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The
American Mural Project is a three-dimensional painting so large that
a
special building is being created for it. It is a celebration of
American ingenuity
and commitment to work. The Project seeks to
inspire, to invite collaboration,
and to reveal to people of all ages
the many contributions they can make to
American culture. It is
intended as a tribute and a challenge.
Board of Directors: Barbara Douglass, Frank Finch, Jim Garfield,
Ellen Griesedieck, Joe Griesedieck, William Harding, Susan Lane,
Thad Meyerriecks, Gayle Moraski, Sam Posey, Laurie Roy,
JoAnn Ryan, Rosellen Schnurr, David Stack, John Whitman
Founding Board: Huyler Held, Ivan Kronenfeld, Paul Newman,
Mehmet Oz, Peter Philip, Ileene Smith Sobel, Frank Stella
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