It is summer in Wisconsin and there is a lot going on. We are proud to fund projects around the state and hope you'll take inspiration from some of the latest WH-funded programs: A new, original musical up north, a troll-sized exhibit about Mount Horeb's popular character, a national exhibit coming to further encourage us to find better ways to live with plastic, and a digital resource to make all the history and action in Northern Wisconsin easier to access!
The mini grants went to four organizations in Bayfield, Dane, Kenosha, and Vilas counties. Over the past 50 years, Wisconsin Humanities has given more than 3,000 grants to projects in every corner of the state, serving rural and urban communities, and making Wisconsin a better place for all of us to live. That equals nearly 34 million dollars to over 1,300 organizations!
NOTE: The next Mini Grant deadline is August 1, 2023
Check out our Grant Program to learn more about what we fund!
Mini Grant Awards
Big Top Chautauqua was awarded $2,000 for “An Anishinaabe Tradition: The 7 Grandfather Teachings at Big Top Chautauqua,” a new historical docu-musical focused on the principles of character by which all Anishinaabe strive to live. The script and original music will be written by Michael “Laughing Fox” Charette, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. In the Anishinaabe culture, storytelling is done in the winter. The creative team, led by Charette, will meet regularly with elders of the tribe who can grant special permission to tell this story. The production will be recorded live for later addition to the catalog of episodes of Tent Show Radio.
The Mount Horeb Area Historical Society was awarded $2,000 for “Mount Horeb Troll Museum.” The project aims to better contextualize Mount Horeb’s embrace of trolls in folklore and Norwegian culture. The museum will create a free exhibit and public presentation in the popular Driftless Historium visitor center. Scholars and local historians will help illuminate why and how these mythic creatures became such an important part of Mount Horeb’s community identity.
The City of Kenosha and the Kenosha Public Museum were awarded $2,000 to bring National Geographic’s ‘Planet or Plastic?’ exhibition to the city. Through powerful imagery and art, the ‘Planet or Plastic?’ exhibition makes the critical case for finding balance between using this ubiquitous material and protecting our environment. Throughout the exhibition and educational programs, the museum will facilitate community discussions that address how we became dependent on plastics and what we can do on a local level to fix this problem and its impact on our waterways. Additionally, the exhibition and the educational programs will provide actionable steps visitors can take to reduce, reuse, recycle, and refuse products with single-use plastic, which is aligned with the recycling initiative in Kenosha County.
The Eagle River Historical Society was awarded $2,000 for their digital Clio project, Northern Wisconsin Heritage Tours. This collaborative effort organizes and promotes the activities, events, programs, and local heritage tours and attractions across multiple counties in northern Wisconsin. The tours will include historic resorts, historic districts in towns, National Register properties, sites of historic events, and drives through heritage areas, such as Military Road. The site will also link to project partners’ own websites, allowing for the promotion of events at museums, historic homes, tribal centers, libraries, and cultural centers. The completed project will serve local schools, tourists, historians, and lifelong learners for many years to come.
Wisconsin Humanities grants support locally-initiated public humanities programs that promote reflection, dialogue, and civic participation. If you or your organization has never applied for a grant, or you just want some feedback on an idea you aren’t sure about, please contact us to discuss your idea. Our Director of Grants and Outreach, Meghan Dudle, is here to help! It might be anything from brainstorming an idea to connecting with a humanities expert.