Ferdinand Mural Project Seeks $15,000 to Unlock Matching Grant

A large-scale mural celebrating Ferdinand's history has cleared its first hurdle with Planning Commission approval, but the project now hinges on whether the community can raise $15,000 by May 5.

Artist Adam Long is leading the Ferdinand Mural Project, which has been selected for the CreatINg Program, a crowdfunding initiative through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. The program operates on a dollar-for-dollar match: if organizers reach the $15,000 local fundraising goal by the deadline, IHCDA releases an equal $15,000 matching grant, bringing the total project budget to $30,000.

The mural is designed to celebrate Ferdinand's history and culture, highlighting its people, landmarks, stories and innovations. Long is organizing the effort through Traditional Arts Today, a local nonprofit, alongside a coalition of partners that includes the Rickelman family of Fleig's Café, the Ferdinand Historical Society, Framing Ferdinand, the Ferdinand Merchants Association, and Ferdinand Tourism.

Organizers have built a tangible giving framework to make the scale of the project concrete: each $30 donation funds one square foot of the mural. Every donor, regardless of contribution size, will receive an "Art Builds Community" sticker. Contributions can be made online or by mailing checks to Traditional Arts Today in Ferdinand.

With roughly six weeks left before the May 5 deadline, the full $15,000 still needs to be raised publicly for the matching grant to activate. Local support is not just symbolic here; without hitting that threshold, the IHCDA funds do not release and the $30,000 total evaporates.

The breadth of the project's local partnerships signals significant institutional buy-in from across Ferdinand's civic and business community. Whether that translates into enough small donations to reach the threshold before May 5 is the question Long and Traditional Arts Today are now racing to answer.