Teapot project nets a $380,000 grant

The Sparta Teapot Museum received a stepping stone last month towards its 2008 debut with a $380,000 grant provided by the Golden Long-Term Economic Advancement Foundation (LEAF) Board of Directors.

The grant was officially given to New River Community Partners, the non-profit organization behind the teapot project.

“We are so appreciative to Golden LEAF for the grant,” Project Director Jonathan Halsey said in a phone interview Monday. “Theirs was the first major lead gift by a private foundation.”

The project has been slated as an economic development opportunity for the county, possibly drawing in 61,000 people per year to its proposed Sparta location. The new facility is expected to include an investment of about $10 million.

“We hope it will create jobs and revitalize the area and local economy,” Halsey said.

The grant was awarded to help fund pre-development activities for the Teapot Museum that is slated to house more than 6,000 artist-made and production teapots.

The museum will be the largest-single investment ever made in downtown Sparta, according to the Golden LEAF Foundation. The foundation went on to say that the museum will serve a “catalyst for revitalization of a town with manufacturing job losses in excess of 1,400 (25 percent of total jobs in Alleghany County) in the last three years.”

The $380,000 non-matching grant will primarily go to the funding of the design of the museum, but will also fund other expenses, according to Halsey, who was responsible for writing the grant in August, 2004.

“The grant money will also be used to fund the curator position, recently taken by Mary Douglas, and the branding process,” he said.

Halsey explained that the branding process takes place when a marketing firm meets with a group of individuals to develop a strategy of what the project needs to represent and a marketing schedule is developed.

“This was the largest grant of the regular 2004-2005 grant cycle for Golden LEAF and we are thrilled that Golden LEAF is willing to fund the design of the museum,” Halsey said. “They have been very helpful to us and we are pleased to work with them.”

The grant was one of 71 issued by Golden LEAF statewide, all of which were valued at more than $9.6 million.

The foundation was established in 1999. Since its inception, it has made 349 grants totaling $116,633,960 to non-profit organizations and government entities throughout the state to help communities make the transition from a tobacco-dependent economy and to create new job opportunities.

Teapot Museum Background

The Sparta Teapot Museum began with California-based couple Sonny and Gloria Kamm, who have been collecting teapots for more than 25 years.

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