Norwich — Plans to create a public park at the former homestead of African-American folk artist Ellis Walter Ruley received a big boost Monday with the City Council's unanimous approval of a $55,000 grant from the Sachem Fund to help develop the park.

The Sachem Fund was created in 2007 with equal contributions by the city and the Mohegan tribe to fund arts, cultural and economic development projects. The council vote came three hours after a special meeting of the Sachem Fund Board to reaffirm its support for the park after a Ruley family member called the city finance office and expressed concern about the project.

Dianne Laiscell, Ruley's great granddaughter, who lived for a time as a small child with Ruley and his wife, Wilhelmina, at the 28 Hammond Ave. property, said she is thrilled with the project, the city's fundraising efforts and the council's grant approval.

Laiscell, of Providence, said her only concern and request to the city was that the family be kept updated frequently on the progress of the park project.

“I'm not objecting,” Laiscell said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I am a happy woman. The only thing I was mentioning was to honor the family and keep us updated as to what's going on. This is a high honor.”

In addition to the grant, the Ellis Walter Ruley Project Committee, established by the City Council in May 2015 to lead the project, has raised about $19,000. The committee's plan calls for creating a passive park that could serve as an artist retreat to reflect on the remote natural setting Ruley often used for his paintings, as well as a fountain and signage to explain the ruins of Ruley's homestead.

The property is located up a long, steep, winding driveway off Hammond Avenue. Ruley, a self-taught artist, painted on plywood using house paint he bought at local hardware stores. He sold his work for small amounts at Norwich Free Academy art shows and to local buyers.

Ruley died under mysterious circumstances Jan. 19, 1959. His body was found at the base of the long driveway with a trail of blood caused by a gash on his forehead. Eleven years earlier, Ruley's son-in-law Douglas Harris was found dead under even more suspicious conditions. He was found head-first in a narrow, shallow well on the property.

Exhumations and new autopsies sanctioned by the Ruley family in 2014 revealed that Harris was strangled, while the cause of Ruley's death remained inconclusive. Publicity surrounding the autopsies and high-profile reburial at Maplewood Cemetery in Norwich led to the city's new effort to honor Ruley's memory and his art.

Along with the park, the committee is planning an Ellis Walter Ruley art festival with art classes encouraging participants to re-create his style of folk art. Norwich Free Academy plans an exhibit of Ruley's work.

“That's beautiful,” Laiscell said of the city's plans. “To everybody that's donating to the ER project, this is a beautiful thing. This is a high honor. I'm happy. I'm thankful.”

c.bessette@theday.com