Congratulations to our newest Mini Grant awardees! The Council is pleased to announce 6 awards from the November Mini Grant cycle totaling $10,500 to the following public humanities projects.
Books Are Wings – Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: A Books Are Wings Humanities Curriculum – $2,000
Funds support the development of a humanities-based curriculum for schools, early learning organizations, and community centers interested in teaching local history to pre-kindergarten and elementary-age children. The curriculum is implemented with the distribution of free books to roughly 1,000 children in Providence schools.
College Crusade of RI – 22nd Annual Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading – $2,000
Funds support an annual event at the RISD Museum celebrating Langston Hughes’ work and his contributions to American art and culture. The event includes readings from community members of Hughes’ wide range of works, a jazz trio playing music of the Harlem Renaissance, and a keynote address by a public humanist contextualizing the long-term impact and legacy of Hughes.
Rhode Island Latino Arts – Stories of our Ancestors – Historias de Nuestros Antepasados: Theatrical Monologues – $2,000
Funds support community convenings where people share their experiences of living in Rhode Island as a member of the Latino community. In Pawtucket and Providence, theater artists facilitate conversations while a community scholar documents the discussion. Collected oral histories are adapted and curated into a preliminary script for a performance piece at Trinity Repertory Company.
Rhode Island Historical Society – 2017 Rhode Island Docent Symposium – $1,500
Funds support a day-long professional development conference for staff and docents who work in Rhode Island’s heritage tourism sector. Learning sessions and the keynote presentation focus on equipping attendees with knowledge on how to best meet the varied physical, learning, and social needs of diverse populations who visit their museums, collections, and historic houses.
Davisville Middle School – Smokeless Tobacco: Past, Present, and Me – $1,000
Funds requested to support a field trip of 100 North Kingstown middle school students to the Gilbert Stuart Museum. Through interdisciplinary workshops, students learn about the transatlantic slave trade, snuff production, art and self-representation, and the historic and contemporary health concerns associated with smokeless tobacco use.
Peace Flag Project – East Providence Library Peace Flag Project – $2,000
Funds support afterschool workshops exploring the history and intellectual framework of peace and nonviolent action as a means to achieve social justice. Studying the work and philosophies of figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi, students create a collective peace flag to be raised and celebrated during the United Nation’s International Day of Peace.
