HARMONY FOR HOPE INC

In May 2017, the town of Mount Hope received an invitation to attend the Appalachian Gateway Communities Regional Workshop offered in partnership by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the National Endowment of the Arts, and the Conservation Fund. Harmony for Hope was chosen because of their work with the Mount Hope Regional Band to attend as the public arts representative from Mount Hope. Along with representatives from the National Park Service, the Fayette County Resource Coordinators Office, the National Coal Heritage Authority, Active Southern West Virginia, Bullock Properties LLC., and Preserve West Virginia AmeriCorps, the group, Mount Hope Revitalization Coalition (MHRC), would develop a program combining public art with the town's cultural heritage to drive tourism and economic development to the region. With the successful completion of this workshop, the MHRC secured a seed grant from the ARC, a grant from the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, and a matching grant from the National Coal Heritage Authority to begin work on the Mount Hope Historic Walking tour. This project saw the creation of a large-scale mural, by Charleston, West Virginia native Ian Bode, the hiring of five local artisans to create store-front art exhibits, and collaboration with the Clio, designed by Marshall University, a historical navigation app. The MHRC, aided by the project coordination of the executive director for Harmony for Hope, successfully created an attraction, which will soon be recognized by the West Virginia Department of Transportation with the completion of this project. Once completed this project will allow Mount Hope to receive recognition as a National Historic District with the WVDOT, a federally recognized brown-sign will be placed along West Virginia State Route 19, where it will be viewed by approximately 110,000 travelers daily.