The list below has been updated following each grant cycle:
Major Grant Awards (April 2022)
Mini Grant Awards (November 2021)
Mini Grant Awards (February 2022)
Mini Grant Awards (May 2022)
Mini Grant Awards (August 2022)
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.
Major Grant Awards (April 2022) – Over $143,340 to 15 Public Projects and Documentary Films
The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities is pleased to announce major grant awards to 15 public projects and documentary films that showcase the power of the humanities to connect communities and strengthen civic health. Funded projects exemplify the many strengths and contributions of the humanities to our society: bridging differences and facilitating social bonding, cultivating a sense of belonging and agency in the public sphere, facilitating community visioning and problem-solving, and promoting multiple modes of knowledge and shared authority among others. Through the standard grantmaking program, the Humanities Council aims to stimulate new research in the field, spark thoughtful community exchange, build new audiences for and innovate new methods in the humanities, and advocate for the importance of the humanities in a lively democracy.
Congratulatory video messages from Senator Jack Reed, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman James Langevin, and Congressman David Cicilline available on the Council’s website and social media speak to the role of the humanities to bring people together, especially as communities work to rebuild social connection in the pandemic era. In 2021, their steadfast support and leadership in Congress helped to bring federal relief funds from the National Endowments for the Humanities and Arts to the state, nearly $1M of which was jointly distributed by the Humanities Council and the RI State Council on the Arts through the RI Culture, Humanities and Arts Grants (RI CHARG) program.
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. Congratulations to the grantees on these awards, and thank you for all you do.”
Read on for a full list of this year’s major grant projects along with short video clips.
Public Project Grants: In support of organizations that enrich and enliven the life of our state through public humanities programs which include civic engagement and education components to cultivate the civic leaders of future generations.
Amos House / Therapeutic Enrichment Activities to Support Recovery
$12,000.00
Funds support the development and implementation of weekly workshops, demonstrations, and activities on humanities, arts, and culture topics to enrich Amos House’s free 90-Day Recovery Program.
Capeverdean American Community Development / Recuperating History through Dance: A Rhode Island Story of Cape Verde
$12,000.00
Funds support a linked set of courses for teens on the history of Cape Verde, as taught through lectures, classes, and performances on 12 genres of Cape Verdean dance. Among other outcomes, participants will produce a booklet on Cape Verdean dance.
DownCity Design / Broad Street Cultural Heritage Design Studios
$5,000.00
Funds support the research, planning, and development of a series of Urban Trail Heritage Installations along Broad Street in Providence. This process includes archival research, Community Design Studios, and the creation of a Cultural Heritage Installation Tool Kit.
FirstWorks / Raise Your Voice: Widening the Circle through Narratives and Dance
$12,000.00
Funds support humanities-focused community engagement around the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company residency with FirstWorks, including a town hall/keynote presentation; a community cohort of local participants; a virtual round-table discussion; K-12 educational workshops; and a commissioned essay.
Little Compton Historical Society / The Secrets of Cellar Holes: Blending Public Archaeology and Local History in Little Compton
$12,000.00
Funds support an in-person special exhibit and accompanying in-person and hybrid programming. The exhibit and programming focus on public archaeology investigating cellar holes that were historically part of homes belonging to local, free families of color.
Manton Avenue Project / Imagining the “New Normal”: Playwriting for Youth in Olneyville, Community Tour and Public Programs
$12,000.00
Funds support the creation, research, and production of a musical play series by 5th graders mentored by teens and middle schoolers. The plays will be informed by interviews with community members and will include community conversations as part of performance.
Naval War College Foundation / Rogers High School International Studies & Leadership Program
$9,240.00
Funds support supplies, staffing, and travel expenses for the Rogers High School International Studies & Leadership Program in the Newport School District. The program, supported by volunteers from the US Naval War College, trains students in global history, cultural diversity, civic education, and leadership, and includes visits from foreign officers studying at the US Naval War College.
Providence Community Library / Providence Seed Library
$6,600.00
Funds support the distribution of open-pollinated, heirloom, and culturally resonant seeds through RI public libraries; the amplification of seed narratives into the project; the creation and distribution of Growing Guides; and free educational programming.
Queer.Archive.Work / Queer/Trans Zinefest (QTZ) 2022
$12,000.00
Funds support the Queer/Trans Zinefest (QTZ) 2022, an independent publishing and zine festival celebrating the creations of queer, trans, and gender non-confirming writers, poets, cartoonists, independent publishers, and zine makers.
Rhode Island Black Storytellers / FULLY Ourselves: A Story of Black Tennis
$12,000.00
Funds support the professional production of a high-quality digital program to be made available for schools, public venues, and Rhode Island Black Storytellers’ FundaFest. The recorded digital program will share lesser-known stories from the history of Black tennis in Rhode Island and nationwide.
Rhode Island Historical Society / Providence Commemorative Works Project: Phase 1
$5,000.00
Funds support the compilation and back-end development of a comprehensive database of commemorative works in Providence.
Riverzedge Arts / Woonsocket Social Flatlands Wayfinding Markers
$8,400.00
Funds support youth participants’ creation of wayfinding signs in the Social Flatlands area of Woonsocket. The signs will share industrial and immigration histories of the area, and will feature archival materials sourced in an earlier phase of the project.
School One / Write Rhode Island
$8,100.00
Funds support the implementation of “Write Where You Are,” a nonfiction writing program for Rhode Island teens. The program features free nonfiction writing workshops, a student-recorded sound map, and digital resources of stories.
Stages of Freedom / Black Ink on White Paper: The African-American Press in Rhode Island
$12,000.00
Funds support a traveling exhibit, a youth newspaper, and public lectures and a roundtable on the history and current status of Black newspapers and journalism in Rhode Island.
Documentary Film Grants: In support of documentary films that preserve Rhode Island’s stories and bring its history to life.
Rhode Island Slave History Medallions / Marking the Landscape of the Enslaved People of Rhode Island
$5,000.00
Funds support the research, planning, and development of a 75-minute film documenting stories of Rhode Island’s enslaved people of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) heritage in conjunction with the installation of slave history medallions at sites statewide.
MINI GRANT AWARDS (November 2021)
Public Project Grants: In support of organizations that enrich and enliven the life of our state through public humanities programs which include civic engagement and education components to cultivate the civic leaders of future generations.
Westerly Armory Restoration, $1,000 to Accessing the Armory’s Museum
Supports increased accessibility of the second floor of the Westerly Armory, which housing part of the People’s Museum, through the professional production of a video tour.
Research Grants to Individuals: In support of independent research that captures and illuminates Rhode Island’s stories.
Jeffrey Yoo Warren, $1,999 to Seeing Providence Chinatown: a virtual reconstruction of an erased neighborhood
Supports archival research into the built environment of Providence’s historical Chinatown to inform a virtual model reconstructing the neighborhood.
MINI GRANT AWARDS (February 2022)
Public Project Grants: In support of organizations that enrich and enliven the life of our state through public humanities programs which include civic engagement and education components to cultivate the civic leaders of future generations.
Bristol Historical and Preservation Society, $2,000 to A Timeline of Bristol’s Enslaved Population
Supports the creation of a publicly displayed timeline demonstrating the number of enslaved people who lived in Bristol from 1680 to 1888. BH&PS will host a number of informal drop-in conversations regarding the timelines.
Friends of Linden Place, $2,000 to Skip Finley Presents “Whaling Captains of Color”
Supports a lecture and Q&A on sailors of color from Bristol, RI, by author, broadcasting executive, and radio personality Skip Finley. The presentation will be based on the research from Finley’s book Whaling Captains of Color – America’s First Meritocracy.
Mount Hope Neighborhood Association, $2,000 to Pokanoket Heritage Day Event Support
Supports the development and production of an annual celebration of Indigenous history and culture. The celebration focuses on expanding public understanding of both the contemporary and historic impact of the Pokanoket Tribe on America’s history and culture.
South County History Center, $2,000 to Physical Exhibit: A New Perspective on “Economic Activities of the Narragansett Planters”
Supports the creation of a physical exhibit reinterpreting Ernest Hamlin Baker’s 1939 mural, “Economic Activities of the Narragansett Planters,” in tandem with the existing digital exhibition.
MINI GRANT AWARDS (May 2022)
Public Project Grants: In support of organizations that enrich and enliven the life of our state through public humanities programs which include civic engagement and education components to cultivate the civic leaders of future generations.
The Empowerment Factory, $2,000 to Creative Squad After-School Programming for Underserved Elementary Youth
Supports the research, curriculum development, and design of a bilingual workbook for “Nature Drawing,” a distance-learning virtual after-school/summer program.
The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre, $2,000 to Gamm Humanities Forum: On “Truth” and Tyranny
Supports a humanities forum among three scholars and attendees centered on the Gamm’s production of Describe the Night. The discussion will address the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s century-long imperial ambitions, and the manufacture of “truth” in an age of amplified, globalized disinformation.
Newport Restoration Foundation, $2,000 to Whitehorne Days
Supports three drop-in, family-friendly, outdoor programs in July, August, and September at Whitehorne House Museum. The programs will feature activities, crafts, and expert speakers on local artisans past and present, historic preservation, and the role of the ocean in the life and history of Newport.
Providence Children’s Museum, $2,000 to Cultural Connections
Supports the Summer 2022 programming of Cultural Connections, a hybrid in-person and digital program. The Museum will partner with three humanities and cultural organizations to offer free events for children and families that connect the guest organization’s content and themes with the Museum’s audiences and expertise.
Rhode Island College, $2,000 to History or a Hindsight? The Haunting of New England
Supports research of a 60-minute docu-fiction film based on the histories behind and present-day resonances of New England ghost stories. The research will culminate in the creation of a short featurette/teaser.
Rhode Island Computer Museum, $2,000 to Mini Mad Men: Computer History in Miniatures
Supports the hiring of an intern to create a website on the history of salesmen’s samples in computer advertising, make recommendations on a related educational program for Met School students in Fall 2022, and create plans for artifact preservation.
Research Grants to Individuals: In support of independent research that captures and illuminates Rhode Island’s stories.
Ben Sisto, $1,924.55 to Rhode Island QSL Archive
Supports the creation of an online repository and archive of QSL cards, a form of written confirmation and communication between amateur or citizen band radio stations, and related public programming.
MINI GRANT AWARDS (August 2022)
Public Project Grants: In support of organizations that enrich and enliven the life of our state through public humanities programs which include civic engagement and education components to cultivate the civic leaders of future generations.
Newport Art Museum, $2,000 to ¡Qué Vivan los Muertos! A Day of the Dead Celebration
Supports two storytelling workshops related to Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and a culminating celebration at the Museum.
Research Grants to Individuals: In support of independent research that captures and illuminates Rhode Island’s stories.
Nicole C. Laliberté, $2000 to Les Souvenirs de Jeunesse
Supports the collection of oral histories from members of the French-Canadian community in Woonsocket, with a culminating panel discussion.
Gabriel Long, $2000 to Superman: A Building and its City
Supports research on Providence’s Superman Building through interviews and archival materials. The research findings will be shared publicly via an Instagram account and ultimately a feature-length documentary.
Nancy Newbury, $2000 to Sarah Osborn and the First Integrated School in the United Colonies
Supports research in the life of Sarah Osborn, an 18th-century Newport teacher and founder of a racially integrated school–possibly the first one in the British colonies. The research will culminate in a detailed 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.
