Program areas at Tryon Palace Foundation
As a supporting organization, Tryon Palace Foundation uses funds raised from contributions, membership, grants, and proceeds from fundraising events, to support Tryon Palace in fulfilling its mission.funding supports general operations, educational programming, lectures and special events, historic interpretation groups, new exhibit openings, an awards program that offsets the cost of field trips and outreach programs for title i schools. The Foundation owns property in downtown new bern for use as a community park and educational site. The annex property is another site owned and maintained by the Foundation for use as a Tryon Palace collections conservation lab, work area, and storage space.
The Foundation promotes and advocates for educational programming for adults and children.the Palace scholars program helps to offset costs for field trips to Tryon Palace for title i schools. 2023 was a strong year, with more than 50 awards granted to title i schools, bringing in more than 4,000 students. With a grant from the anonymous trust, the Palace scholars program launched an outreach educational program designed to take costumed interpreters and educational programs into the classrooms of title i schools which cannot afford a field trip to Tryon Palace. In addition, the Foundation held two family day programs, allowing families with limited incomes on snap, wic, and medicaid to enjoy the nc history center exhibits and Palace historic site activities and gardens for free.
Promotion of special historic, educational, and cultural events at Tryon palace.the Foundation was gifted property in downtown new bern to be used as a community park and educational site. This site allows for Tryon Palace reenactment groups to interpret history in a very visible location, extending reach to downtown visitors. In 2023, the Tryon Palace Foundation received grants to upfit clermont, a Tryon Palace property planned for future development as an educational historic site including nature trails and programs that focus on archaeology, the indigenous peoples who once lived there, civil war history and information on richard dobbs spaight (revolution). The Foundation also received a grant for outdoor furniture to make our historic site more accommodating to families and school groups. The Foundation continues to provide support for special programming and for our reenactment interpretive groups. In january 2023, the Foundation held history in bloom, a fundraising event and exhibit that combined hidden jewels from the Palace attic and archives with floral arrangements designed by floral designers to interpret the collection items.
Promotion of free concerts and other programs that provide additional opportunities to expose the public to the historical and cultural mission of Tryon Palace.