Hoyt Sherman Place Receives $11,000 Prairie Meadows Community Betterment Grant

Hoyt Sherman Place is excited to announce it is the recipient of an $11,000 Community Betterment Grant from Prairie Meadows. This grant will help fund its Electronic Facility Tours, which will tentatively begin next spring.

In an effort to better educate the public about Hoyt Sherman Place’s rich history, the idea of a simple and thorough tour that is immediately available to its daily visitors began to take shape. The program, hosted on iPads or similar devices, will start with a map that includes the layout of the entire space, an introduction to Des Moines Founding Father, Hoyt Sherman, and why his accomplishments matter today. Then, the visitor may choose where to start: the mansion, the art galleries or the theater. Once in each of these spaces, the visitor will be able to click on selected paintings, sculptures, furniture or other objects in the room. That action will also open additional information in video, audio or picture form.

Hoyt Sherman Place’s mission is to create outstanding experiences for the cultural, historic and educational benefit of Iowa’s residents and communities. This Betterment Grant will enable the non-profit entity to do just that by expanding the education value of its current tours.

Prairie Meadows is a nonprofit organization dedicated to lessening the burden of government by promoting economic development, jobs, agriculture, and tourism in the state of Iowa. To date, Prairie Meadows has given $2.1 billion through taxes, grants, and charitable donations to the state of Iowa. More than $863 million of that figure has remained in Polk County to promote economic development, jobs, agriculture, and tourism in our communities.