PORTSMOUTH — Trillium has been a rising star in the local nonprofit world in recent years, founded and led by Executive Director Amanda Lewis and a board of dedicated volunteers. The group is celebrating a colorful success in 2024 and look forward to an even larger impact in 2025.
“I’m damn proud of my team, my partners, and my community for what we’ve been able to accomplish, collectively,” Lewis said, after releasing the organization’s 2024 impact report. “Trillium has far surpassed whatever expectations I had when I formed this organization. It’s growing in such an organic and unexpected way. I originally thought it would just be a handful of my closest friends who are artists, completing a simple project or two each year. Instead, it’s quickly become something so much more, with people I never knew, of all ages and backgrounds asking to be involved. It’s a symbiotic relationship between the artists and the community. All I can do is watch it unfold in whatever manner it takes.”
According to the impact report, “Trillium Project is a volunteer-and-artist-led non-profit organization that supports community and economic development in rural, Appalachian communities by designing visual arts projects that reimagine public spaces.”
The group’s mission is to lead, coordinate, and support community engaged programs and initiatives focused on art, advocacy, and Appalachia. The group’s values are sustainability, cultural exchange, accessibility, education, advocacy, collaboration, and creativity.
“Trillium Project is breathing new life into the heart of downtown Portsmouth, Ohio,” Josh Lawson said. “I don’t know why it took us so long to envision downtown revitalization in terms of multi-colored sidewalk murals, but I am glad that the brilliant team of artists finally did. I look forward to seeing more of their creative passion on display in the days and years to come.”
According to Lewis, Trillium Project paid artists $32,334 in public art commissions, invested $74,215 in the local economy, launched a clothing design program for high school students, directly supported 23 small, locally-owned businesses, designed a climate literacy project supported by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, presented at the Arts Impact Ohio 2024 Conference, supported 21 independent artists, curated it first regional exhibit with over 100 applications, and painted 13 murals.
For 2025, the group has much planned, including 10 new sidewalk murals, murals at the Mound Park basketball court, a second regional art exhibition, a special topics in art class at Shawnee State University, the launch of an acting company, and more.
“We’re thrilled and filled with this incredible amount of nervous energy and anticipation for our future. What I love most about this organization and everyone involved is that we don’t have any one finite goal in mind,” Lewis said. “We’re constantly adapting our projects and processes to meet the needs of the community, so you never know what brilliant new project may unfold on a whim. We’ve got a whole team of talented and compassionate folks who have all these ideas about what we want to do and who we want to become. It’s a beautiful kind of chaos.”
Learn more about Trillium Project by following them on social media channels and online at www.trillium-project.org.