Canterbury Shaker Village has received a $2,500,000 grant from Lilly endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative. The grant will support the Village’s reinvigoration of its on-site and online interpretive experiences to emphasize the history and culture of the Shaker faith at the core of its visitor engagement strategy.

“This opportunity to share much more of the Village’s unparalleled collections is both welcome and exciting,” stated Curator of Research and Collections Shirley Wajda. “With this grant, the Village will increase both access to and knowledge of the Canterbury Shakers, their religion, and their individual and collective lives.”

Over the next five years, Canterbury Shaker Village will create a “digital Village,” developing an online database of biographies, documents, artifacts, and interactive exhibitions. This accessible database will complement and extend new interactive and immersive on-site exhibitions focusing on the Shakers’ religious beliefs and experiences. “We will reinvigorate visitors’ experiences and understanding of the Shakers and Shakerism within American and world religious history,” added Wajda.

Photo by Joe Klementovich