We just wanted to take a moment to update all of you on a few things. First of all, we have submitted our application for an ArtPlace America Grant. The funding from this grant would be a huge boost in the process of making Farwell House become a reality. Thank you to all of you that shared your thoughts on Frederick. The information you provided was extremely helpful as we were preparing the narratives for the grant application. We should know by June if we have made it to the second round. It is during this round that we will be required to submit a more detailed plan for our use of the funds and representatives from ArtPlace America will conduct a site visit to get a better picture of what we hope to do at Farwell House. We are hopefully optimistic!

Second,in case you missed it or want to watch it again, I have included a link to the  Illinois Stories episode about Farwell House that aired this past fall on PBS.  We also have a page on FaceBook. Just search Farwell House and you can easily find us.  Our new website is up and will be ready to officially launch once a few minor adjustments have been made.

In other news, work continues on plumbing our radiators. We are very close to having them all connected and ready to test. In the near future we will also be installing our new waterline. This past Saturday we finished digging out the floor of northwest basement room. This is the only room in the basement that does not have a poured floor. We dug down about 6 inches, filled 5 gallon buckets, then marched them up the stairs to be dumped outside. Needless to say we had to make a few trips up and down those basement stairs.

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Northwest basement room 3.19.2016

By pouring the floor we will alleviate much of the moisture issues we have had with the room directly above . Over the years, the added moisture has caused significant damage to the brick as well as several floor joists that will need to be replaced. It was a great feeling to dump those last two buckets. My body is thankful as well.

Onward and Upward my friends.