Dear Wisconsin Humanities Friends and Supporters,Punxsutawney Phil may not be looking for his shadow yet, but at WH we've poked our heads out and... surprise! It looks like we may have a lot more to germinate this spring. That's because we got positive news from Washington: A federal “minibus” budget bill for 2026 was approved by Congress with funds for state humanities councils in the same amount we were supposed to have received in 2025. What a turnaround from last April, when this federal support was terminated! I can’t express how grateful I am that you stuck with us, advocating for WH and contributing financially. While we're thrilled, we need to be cautious as we wait for the National Endowment for the Humanities to release the funds -- some time this spring in the best case. Congress appears determined to make federal agencies like the NEH spend their funds as instructed in the budget legislation. That's why we're hopeful, and eager for spring! Anticipating these federal funds, we are:
And we're ramping up programs already! Community Powered training is preparing to restart, with a new model. Chrissy Widmayer, Community Powered’s director, is back with WH half-time (thanks to our partnership with UW-Madison's Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, where she is also a post-doctoral fellow.) To assess communities' training needs, she would love your thoughts. You can help us by taking a brief survey about which workshops could be useful for you, or people you know. The WH grant program is open with a Spring Grant round deadline, March 16. Stay tuned for news about future grant rounds, which we will announce after we receive the appropriated federal funds. Let's hope the good news keeps coming, and that we can welcome spring with a blossoming of cultural programs to warm our hearts and lift our spirits.
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