In 2021, we awarded 99 organizations a total of $800,000. This diverse group of organizations enriches our state’s cultural landscape today and into the future.
In November 2021, forty-seven nonprofit organizations across Wisconsin — including libraries, civic and cultural groups, and historical societies — were awarded Wisconsin Humanities Recovery Grants to help the state prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the pandemic. The awards represent the second and final round of grants made by Wisconsin Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. More than $422,000 in Recovery Grant funds were previously awarded to 52 organizations.
Check out the full list of Recovery Grant recipients here!
“We received 123 applications demonstrating more than $1.7 million in need,” said Dena Wortzel, Executive Director of Wisconsin Humanities, about the second round of Recovery grants. “We weighed factors including need, location, the strength of their public humanities work, the audience served, and how they would address the impacts of the pandemic. For this final recovery grant round, we made special efforts to reach organizations that we had not funded in the previous grant round, and organizations that connect with underserved audiences, such as people in our smaller rural communities and people of color.”
Funds awarded will help organizations with everything from salary support and utility bills to strategic planning and cultural programming, and improving public access to communities’ history through digitization. “Clearly, a great deal of need remains for these cultural organizations,” says Wortzel. “We know our grants help them maintain their operations and find ways to bring educational and cultural programs back to their communities as we emerge from the pandemic.” None of the ARP funds were used to cover the cost of administering this special grant program.
Funding for Wisconsin Humanities Recovery Grants was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. All deadlines have passed.
Every year, Wisconsin Humanities has seven regular grant deadlines to support locally-initiated public humanities programs that promote reflection, dialogue, and civic participation. Mini and Major grants help support cultural and educational programs around the state. 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. We may be able to help! It might be anything from brainstorming an idea to connecting your organization with a humanities expert.
