Funding Sources for a Living History Exhibit?

Factual Questions
1

As some of you may know, i am affiliated with the local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval research and re-enactment group.

We’ve been given permission to build a mock-up of medieval village for living history, re-enactment, and martial arts demonstrations at a campground in northern AR, and are looking for funding sources that might be available for this sort of thing. Even when we’re not using it, it will be available for tours, and we’ll install placards explaining what life in a medieval village would be like.

The camp is happy to cede to us the land for this purpose, but we will need to cover all materials costs ourselves. We’ve built a bit on this scale before, and will handle all of the planning and labor.

Grant-writing, fund raising, artsy Dopers, any thoughts? I’m pretty geeked about the prospect- just hoping we can scrounge up the money. The first project will likely be an inn/tavern, and we’ll try to grow the village ‘organically’ from there- stables, smithy, chapel, mill, etc. We’re thinking long-term, and every little bit will help.

Thoughts would be welcome. I’m not soliciting funds, and am posting with **samclem’s ** permission.

2

It will be tougher for you to find funding than other re-enacting groups because you are not presenting a historically accurate portrayal of actual, local history.

I belong to a revolutionary war era re-enacting group based in a local fort where there was a battle in 1778. Our group provides educational presentations for school groups, etc. We have received donations from visiting groups, donations from local civic groups for specific purchases such as tents. We just got a mini-grant from the United Way to transfer an old videotape of a battle re-enactment to DVD for use in local schools.

Medieval re-enacting is generally viewed more as entertainment than education. Nearby, King Richard’s Faire operates in Carver, MA, during the fall. It is basically a commercial, seasonal operation.

You might try commercial backers as well as charging fees/admission to your village. Unless you get scholarly about it, I think traditional non-profit support might be harder to find.