Part of the Polk County Appearance Commission, we offer matching grants to support projects that enhance the appearance and visual quality of public spaces across the county. We encourage community and civic leaders to continue the traditions of tasteful, responsible landscaping, public art and other visual improvements to our wonderful mountain home. The grants have been offered for many different projects in the past several years. Tryon Downtown Development Association has received grants two years in a row for their landscaping on Trade Street projects. Columbus also has benefitted with new benches and trash cans for their downtown area. The Tryon Arts and Crafts School has also benefited from one of these grants, currently the earth mound sculpture project  being done on site at Harmon Field. The flower sculpture at the Blue Ridge Health Building is another bright spot on Walker Street that makes it a more enjoyable place to visit. Saluda has also benefited from these grants: a new coat of paint for the Saluda Depot, several of the decorative tree grates around the trees that line Main Street, the fused glass flowers that make the entry into Saluda’s food pantry more inviting and picnic tables, benches as well as native plants for McCreery Park.