At the National Humanities Conference in Rhode Island, the Federation of State Humanities Councils presented Wisconsin Humanities with the 2024 Schwartz Prize for outstanding work in the public humanities for their Community Powered initiative.
Chrissy Widmayer, director of the Community Powered initiative for Wisconsin Humanities, says, “We are honored to be recognized by the leading public humanities organization in the country for our initiative to help Wisconsin communities build resilience at a grassroots level using the tools of the public humanities.”
Community Powered was piloted in 2023 in partnership with local organizations, including Appleton Public Library, Racine Public Library, Spooner Public Library, Forest County Potawatomi Cultural Center, Library, and Museum, Fox Valley Literacy, The LGBT Center of Southeast Wisconsin, The Spooner Railroad History Museum and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, and The Forest County Potawatomi Community Center.
Community Powered was made possible thanks to a $150,000 capacity building grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) in 2022.
Wisconsin Humanities’ Community Powered
The Community Powered initiative works in Wisconsin communities to address challenges through locally designed projects using local resources. Participants are trained in humanities-based approaches to understand the unique strengths of each community. The outcomes include a stronger community vision for the future and mobilizing of local resources to realize that vision. In its pilot year, Community Powered methods inspired teens to lead community cleanups in Spooner, kickstarted a series of story circles among immigrants and refugees in Appleton, and revitalized the tradition of lacrosse in the Forest County Potawatomi community.
In 2024, Wisconsin Humanities expanded the program by offering Community Powered training to eight Wisconsinites living and working in Northwestern Wisconsin through the new Wisconsin Humanities Fellows program. The WH Fellows receive year-long training and mentorship, a stipend, and seed funding for the community projects that emerge thanks to the Fellows’ new skills, understanding, and community connections. Another group of eight WH Fellows will begin their training in February 2025.
About Wisconsin Humanities
Established in 1972 as an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Wisconsin Humanities strengthens our democracy through educational and cultural programs that build connections and understanding among people of all backgrounds and beliefs throughout the state. Visit wisconsinhumanities.org to learn more.
About the Schwartz Prize
Wisconsin Humanities is one of three humanities councils across the nation that were awarded 2024 Schwartz Prizes. Since 1982, the Federation has awarded the Schwartz Prize for outstanding work in the public humanities each year. The prize was established by founding Federation board member Martin Schwartz and his wife, Helen. The Schwartz Prize judges are selected from humanities partners, former board members, and council board and staff of the prior year’s winners. For more information, visit www.statehumanities.org/schwartz-prize-faqs.
The Federation of State Humanities Councils
The Federation of State Humanities Councils (Federation) was founded in 1977 as the membership association of state and jurisdictional councils. The Federation provides support for the state humanities councils and strives to create greater awareness of the humanities in public and private life. For more information about the Federation, visit: www.statehumanities.org.
The state humanities councils are independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations supporting grassroots humanities programs and community-based activities. Humanities councils were created by Congress in the early 1970s and receive an annual congressional appropriation through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which most councils supplement with private funding. For more information about the state humanities councils, visit www.statehumanities.org/directory.
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