Thanks to the Trustees of The Philip L. Graham Fund, Berryville will soon begin work to convert two early 20th Century barns in Rose Hill Park into a flexible-use community center that will celebrate learning and the arts. The $25,000 grant to The Barns of Rose Hill, a fledgling arts organization, was announced in December 2006.

Although The Barns and the surrounding four-acre Rose Hill Park were given to Berryville in 1964 by the Smithy family for "…educational, cultural and recreational purposes," they still stand as vacant as when they were deeded to the town.

Recently, the local Berryville Main Street program revived the campaign to improve the property but it soon became apparent that a separate organization was needed to help fund the initiative.

The Barns of Rose Hill was organized in September 2004 by local citizens and is managed by a volunteer board of directors. The announcement of the grant illustrates the local group's devotion to the arts and the Philip Graham Fund's vision. Established in 1963, the fund is named for Philip L. Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post. The fund's annual grant list is broad and varied with strong financial support for the Arts and Humanities throughout the Washington, D.C. area. Recent grant recipients include Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre and The National Gallery of Art. Candice C. Bryant, the Fund's president, stated in her award letter that the trustees were "…happy to support The Barns of Rose Hill in the valuable contributions you make to our community."

Diana Kincannon, a classical singer and businesswoman, presides over The Barns' fund-raising effort. Bret Burzio, its vice president, also manages the Eisenhower Theatre at the Kennedy Center. Other board members include Barbara Byrd, a Clarke County supervisor, visual artist, Deede Cady, Emmanuel Delaplane parish administrator and poet Wendy Clatterbuck.

The Barns has already become a community asset even though the group does not yet have a roof over its head.

With the help of local volunteers, organizers arranged blues, bluegrass and chamber music concerts, poetry and playwriting workshops, lectures on oriental rugs, costume design and military cuisine, and sponsored an educational theater performance for middle-schoolers. Middleburg resident, Jan Neuharth, launched the Local Author Reading Series last September with excerpts from her latest novel, The Chase.

Although the group has no professional fund-raising experience, they have raised almost $700,000 since they began their $1.5 million dollar construction campaign. In December of 2005 they received a $247,500 HUD grant from the federal government.

When the doors open, The Barns' programs will include offerings for the under-served elderly and school-age children, especially those in the challenging middle school years, with after-school programs in music, art and dance. At this time, dance is not offered in the local middle school and one art teacher serves its 400 pupils.

This year, The Barns' will offer a Frontier Festival on September 8th in Rose Hill Park to celebrate 400 years of Virginia history as part of statewide Jamestown 2007 festivities. Volunteers hope to secure state funds for a 2007 film series and for four educational performances by Virginia artists on the colonial experience, including a storyteller, two instrumentalists; a dance troupe; and a theater performance.

More information is available at The Barns' website: barnsofrosehill.org or by calling Diana Kincannon at 540 955-7091.