The list of FY2024 awards below is updated following the annual major grant cycle and each quarterly mini grant cycle (November, February, May, and August). Please check back regularly for the most current details of the public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement projects happening throughout the state.
MINI GRANT AWARDS (November 2023)
Public Project Grants:
Towards an Anti-Racist North Kingstown, $2,000 to We Are ALL Readers
Supports the third annual We Are ALL Readers festival, an in-person celebration of diverse children’s book authors, illustrators, and readers including presentations and workshops. In collaboration with Write Rhode Island, this year’s festival will host an exhibition created by teens across Rhode Island featuring banned and challenged books.
Research Grants:
Anthony “AM.” Andrade, $2,000 to Queer Femme Afro-Diasporic Ethnomusicology
Supports researching, documenting, and archiving music heritage traditions of Afro-Latinx music from Rhode Island, West Africa, Cape Verde, and the Caribbean, with a focus on Queer Femme artists. Research findings will be shared in a public presentation and listening session, and will be published online.
Reza C. Clifton, $2,000 to Wild Bill: Stories about a Father, a Family, and Black Jurists in Rhode Island
Supports research and a multimedia project about the life and legacy of the late Rhode Island District Court Judge William “Bill” Clifton. The story of Judge Clifton and his family highlights the contemporary history of African American lawyers and justices in Rhode Island, and the impact they have had on the bench and in communities statewide.
Providence Inner City Arts, $2,000 to Meet Me at the Court – Feature Length Documentary Film
Supports research on archival materials, interviews, and public storytelling events to support the production of Meet Me at the Court (working title). This feature-length documentary tells the story of the formation of The North Providence Summer Basketball League – which, over the course of 30 years, saw over 20 of its members play in the NBA and European Pro Leagues.
MINI GRANT AWARDS (to be announced, February 2024)
MAJOR GRANT AWARDS (to be announced, April 2024)
MINI GRANT AWARDS (to be announced, May 2024)
MINI GRANT AWARDS (to be announced, August 2024)
Total of $183,748 awarded through 41 grants in FY2023
In FY2023, the Council awarded 42 grants in support of public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement. A full listing of grants awarded from November 2022 – October 2023 will be available in our forthcoming Annual Report.
Total of $176,264 awarded through 32 grants in FY2022
In FY2022, the Council awarded 32 grants in support of public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement. As Executive Director Elizabeth Francis noted, “[Awarded projects] include free humanities workshops to support a 90-day recovery program; a statewide nonfiction writing program for youth; a civic education and leadership collaboration between the Naval War College Foundation in Newport and a local high school; and exhibitions, programs, and documentary films addressing topics from the legacies of slavery to how we will remember and grow from a global pandemic.” For a full listing of grants awarded from November 2021 – October 2022, click here or on the image below to view the Council’s 2022 Annual Report.
Click here to download a PDF of the 2022 Annual Report.
Total of $760,00 awarded through 112 grants in FY2021
In FY2021, the Council awarded 112 grants in support of public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement. Throughout this second year of the pandemic, the Council maintained its standard grantmaking program while also establishing new grant opportunities to disburse federal relief funds and support civic engagement initiatives. For a full listing of grants awarded from November 2020 – October 2021, click here or on the image below to view the Council’s 2021 Annual Report.