Community Outreach
Amazement Square regularly partners with schools, nonprofits, and community organizations to bring hands-on learning experiences to children throughout our region.
CityArts Mosaic Mural
Today’s restoration project ensures this community treasure will continue to inspire visitors for generations to come, standing as a testament to the power of vision, persistence, and community collaboration. Amazement Square is seeking partners and donors to help preserve the CityArts Mosaic Mural—protecting not only a work of public art, but a lasting symbol of Lynchburg’s shared history and civic pride.
Amazing Children Early Learning Initiative
Amazement Square has been working in partnership with early learning centers for at-risk children throughout the Lynchburg area for over 10 years to address an important community need for high-quality learning.
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The program, Amazing Children, works with centers providing classroom structure and a social-emotional curriculum to students; supporting emerging teachers through modeling, mentoring, and professional development; and incorporating center directors to develop awareness of best practices in the field and reduce staff turnover. The program offers outreach visit to participating area centers covering six different modules of teaching styles including social-emotional learning, play-based learning, inquiry, child-led learning, differentiation, and project-based learning as well as summer visits to potential early learning center partners. During the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure early learning centers still received the valuable resources for both their teachers and students, a virtual version of the program was created entitled Explorer Corner. Participating centers can now be served both in-person and virtually to best serve their needs. Summer visits were also made available virtually which include Life in the Forest, Dinosaur Discovery, and Colors and Shapes.
Steam Library Makers
To expand the museum’s early learning initiative beyond those children served in early learning centers, Amazement Square introduced the STEAM Library Makers program in January 2023. STEAM Library Makers is a partnership with local libraries offering free monthly programming designed for children ages 3-5 not enrolled in an early learning center. STEAM based education is vital for early learners and can help set them up for ongoing academic success. This program provides STEAM-based learning opportunities for at-risk children, and assists their parents and caretakers to empower them to help their children learn at home.
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Programs take place at partner library locations. Each monthly program consists of a story, a STEAM based activity, and opportunities for families and children to see and interact with other STEAM based enrichment materials such as technology and robotics. Each of the programs offered uses the different components of STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. These programs are not only designed to be engaging and fun, but to also encourage children to be excited about learning and provide parents and caretakers a valuable learning resource in their community.
Programs are currently offered once a month through May 2025 at each of the following partner library locations: Forest Library, Bedford Central Library, Madison Heights Library, Big Island Library, Lynchburg Downtown Library, and Nelson Memorial Library. Find specific dates, times, and themes here!
CityArts Mentoring Program
he CityArts Mentoring Program was established in 2002 to provide team-building mentoring experiences to at-risk and underserved youth through the process of creating public art that enhances the environment of downtown Lynchburg.
The first CityArts project, completed in 2002, was the steel bug sculpture known as “Lynchbug” that is now perched on the sidewalk across from the museum. 2003 saw the creation of the caterpillar bike rack named “Spirals” which was placed on the sidewalk adjacent to the museum’s entrance.
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The tromp l’oeil painting on the N.B. Handy building across Ninth Street was painted in 2004 and has been used for the Riverflick Film Series since 2007. In 2012, a 7-year long Mosaic Mural Project brought a 4,800 square foot tile mural to downtown Lynchburg. Located on Jefferson Street across from the museum, the mural chronicles the history of Lynchburg’s riverfront from before the contact period to a view of Lynchburg in the future. This monumental-sized work of art enhances downtown Lynchburg for residents and visitors alike while preserving the area’s rich history. The programs next major undertaking is a 3D diorama of Downtown Lynchburg made with LEGO® bricks!
Partnerships
We are grateful to collaborate with organizations that share our commitment to education, creativity, and access.
CityArts Mosaic Mural
Today’s restoration project ensures this community treasure will continue to inspire visitors for generations to come, standing as a testament to the power of vision, persistence, and community collaboration. Amazement Square is seeking partners and donors to help preserve the CityArts Mosaic Mural—protecting not only a work of public art, but a lasting symbol of Lynchburg’s shared history and civic pride.
LAUREL Amazing Explorers
Amazing Explorers is a school-wide program designed to engage and inspire students through interdisciplinary learning experiences rooted in art, music, and STEAM. Each session supports creativity, communication, and academic growth while offering hands-on opportunities often unavailable in traditional elective settings.
In addition to in-school programming, Amazing Explorers provides field trip experiences to Amazement Square for students who may otherwise lack the resources or opportunity to visit the Museum.
Interested in partnering with Amazement Square?
Contact us at 434-845-1888.
Awards & Recognition
We are honored to be recognized for our commitment to education, accessibility, and community engagement.
In 2025 Amazement Square was awarded the Outstanding Practice in a Children’s Museum for our Everyone is Special initiative.
National Medal Winner
The honorees exemplify the nation’s great libraries and museums and demonstrate outstanding impact and quality of programs, services, and partnerships, exceeding the expected levels of community outreach.
Amazement Square received the Outstanding Practice in Children’s Museums Award from the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) for the Everyone is Special program.
Amazement Square had the opportunity to be honored at the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), the world’s foremost professional society supporting and advocating on behalf of children’s museums, for the inaugural ACM Outstanding Practice in Children’s Museum award. The award, which was presented on May 16, 2025, during ACM’s annual InterActivity Conference, this year held in Albuquerque, NM, is given to recognize exceptional accomplishments by children’s museums in work across all departments that also goes beyond the standard practices and represents what we hope children’s museums will look like in the future.
Amazement Square was honored for the Everyone is Special program, which exemplifies how children’s museums provide unique museum exploration experiences and STEAM-based experiential learning opportunities in adaptive classrooms for all children and their families.
National Medal Winner
The National Medal is a program of The Institute of Museum and Library Services and is the nation’s highest honor and recognizes Amazement Square’s exceptional community contributions. The ten winning institutions (5 museums and 5 libraries) are annually honored at the National Medal award ceremony in Washington, DC.
For almost 25 years, the award has celebrated institutions that present extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service to make a difference for individuals, families, and communities. The honorees exemplify the nation’s great libraries and museums and demonstrate outstanding impact and quality of programs, services, and partnerships, exceeding the expected levels of community outreach. Amazement Square’s story is recorder by StoryCorps—a national nonprofit dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of Americans. Learn more about StoryCorps and listen to the interview here.
Amazing Children Early Learning Initiative
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant MA-10-19-0684-19.
Amazement Square Preserves the
CityArts Mosaic Mural
Today's restoration project ensures that this community treasure will continue to inspire visitors for generations to come. As downtown Lynchburg continues its renaissance, the CityArts Mosaic Mural stands as proof of what vision, persistence, and community spirit can accomplish together.
Preserving this extraordinary public art requires ongoing support. Amazement Square is seeking community partners and donors to help fund the essential preservation that will protect the CityArts Mosaic Mural for future generations. Today's supporters can ensure it continues inspiring creativity, celebrating our shared history, and fostering community pride for decades to come. Every contribution helps maintain not just a work of art, but a symbol of what Lynchburg can accomplish when we work together toward a common vision.
The CityArts Mosaic Mural Project was made possible in part through the generosity of:
