Phoenix Recovery Academy
In November 2019, Ausherman Family Foundation provided funding for Maryland’s first and only recovery high school, Phoenix Recovery Academy. The school is located at 117 East Church St. convenient to public transportation, the downtown arts district and other supportive nonprofit organizations. Students will benefit from a supportive environment focused on academics as well as recovery support for alcoholism and drug addiction. This school will ultimately change the trajectory of their lives and positively impact future generations to come. The project tapped into the skills and expertise of both sides of our organization – Ausherman Properties and Ausherman Family Foundation. Ausherman Properties contributed their expertise in construction, permitting, outfitting the building, and more. The school accepted its first applications and opened in the Fall of 2020.
Carroll Creek Kinetic Art Promenade
Ausherman Family Foundation, in collaboration with Rotary Club of Carroll Creek, requested proposals for a site-specific commission for kinetic wind art. In early spring 2020, three sculptures were installed and will be displayed in the middle of Carroll Creek until fall. Ausherman Family Foundation’s goal is to help catalyze this initiative, attracting sponsors for additional sculptures down the Creek and further beautifying downtown Frederick. Future intent is to have numerous rotating pieces. Several proposals from regional artists were received and Ausherman Family Foundation decided to sponsor the team of Margot de Messieres & Tsvetomir Naydenov.
The Frederick Speakers Series
In 2012, Ausherman Family Foundation catalyzed The Frederick Speaker Series by partnering with Frederick County Public Libraries and the Weinberg Center for the Arts, to present high-quality, thought-provoking speakers to the Frederick community. Past luminaries have included journalist, anchorman, and author Tom Brokaw, actress Jane Fonda, NPR host Diane Rehm, and neurologist Dr. Ben Carson.
The Series committee members choose presenters that hopefully will broaden our collective experience and allow us to see the world differently. Subscriptions to the entire series are available.
Uplifting the Performing Arts in Frederick - New Spire Arts and YMCA
Enhancing the performing arts in Frederick was the vision when the we purchased two downtown buildings and provided a catalyzing grant to start what would eventually become New Spire Arts. Our staff’s leadership was loaned out to help establish New Spire Arts, form strategic partnerships, hire consultants to study the performing arts in Frederick, and renovate the buildings.
In 2013, we acquired 15 West Patrick Street (now STAGES) with the intent to revitalize the building and turn it into a functional performing arts center. This center features a 300-seat state-of-the-art black box theater. This building is uniquely positioned in the heart of the Theatre District alongside the Weinberg Center and the Maryland Ensemble Theatre. New Spire Arts celebrated its grand opening in January 2019. In 2016, we purchased 115 East Church Street with the intention of providing performing arts education in synergy with the performance programs of STAGES.
In Spring of 2019, a new partnership was created between New Spire Arts and the Frederick County YMCA’s Arts and Humanities division to collaboratively enhance performing arts education in Frederick. We contributed over $5,026,095, to date. The YMCA Arts Center on Church Street programming includes dance, creative arts, theater, and music. Future plans for The Y Arts Center include Summer Camps, a Maker’s Space for local artists to teach, Drop-in Arts Programming, and Community Meeting Spaces.
Frederick Arts Council's Public Art Master Plan
This Master Plan provides a road map and best practices for soliciting, placing, and sustainably funding a world-class public art program. It also delineates a number of “creative zones” and upcoming opportunities to generate public art in Frederick County.
Ausherman Family Foundation partnered with Frederick Arts Council to hire master arts planner, Todd Bressi from Philadelphia, to embark on developing a Public Arts Master Plan for Frederick.
Schifferstadt Architectural Museum
The historic home, dating back to 1758, was in danger of significant foundation damage due to rainwater infiltration to the basement. The Ausherman Family Foundation, through its for-profit partner, Ausherman Development, completed landscape grading repairs and installed underground drainage that moved rainwater away from the building, saving the foundation from further water damage. The Frederick News Post article can be found here.
School-Based Health Center of Frederick
The School-Based Health Center of Frederick (SBHC) has been able to expand its offerings off of seed money from the Ausherman Family Trust. The seed money helped catalyze the School-Based Health Center of Frederick’s ability to obtain a large federal grant, which was announced in August 2015. The School-Based Health Center of Frederick serves children and their siblings who are uninsured and ineligible for medical assistance at four Frederick County elementary schools.
Square Corner Beautification Redesign
In 2017, we formed a partnership with High Glen Gardens and the Downtown Frederick Partnership to study historic downtown’s Square Corner, the intersection of Market and Patrick Streets. With the architects of Mahan Rykiel Associates and engineers of RK&K, a design was completed that reimagined the intersection as a vibrant hub of downtown activity, including increased pedestrian safety, additional green space, and improved ADA accessibility. The plan was presented to the City of Frederick in 2018 and discussions regarding implementation are ongoing.
Barbara Fritchie House
Barbara Fritchie was a Frederick resident who, according to folklore, defiantly waved the Union flag from her second-story window as Confederate troops left the city in 1862. She was then 95. Dame Fritchie’s exploits were soon memorialized in a poem by John Whittier Greenleaf. Among the poem’s best-known lines is: “Shoot if you must, this old gray head, but spare your country’s flag, she said.”
In an effort to preserve the Barbara Fritchie House as an historic landmark, we purchased the home at auction in 2015, renovated the historic exterior features, and documented artifacts from the original house.
We then produced a documentary to ensure Barbara Fritchie’s legacy lives on in the Frederick community before selling the property to another local family with a shared vision and passion in 2017. Take a look at the documentary to get an in-depth look at the Barbara Fritchie house.