Burley Restoration Project adding mural and documentary through new grant

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - A project bringing the full history of Charlottesville’s Burley Middle School to light is getting a major boost in funding.

The Burley Restoration Project aims to highlight the school’s athletic history as an all-Black high school in the 1950s and 60s.

The project received $15,000 in grants from the Charlottesville Area Community Fund through Bama Works and Local Enriching Communities.

The funding will support new additions to the project.

“What that money will go to is paying two excellent artists with our community, Sahara Clemmons, who’s a muralist and artist, and then Lorenzo Dickerson, who’s very well known locally, even nationally, for his work around Charlottesville and storytelling the Black community and its history,” Ben Allen with the UVA Equity Center said.

This is a community-wide project involving Charlottesville, Albemarle County Public Schools, and the University of Virginia.

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