Congratulations to the most recent mini grant awardees, the first of the FY18 funding cycle. The Council is pleased to announce five awards, totaling $9,100 to the following public humanities projects.
Public Projects:
Pawtucket School Department, $1,100 to Generation Citizen (Pawtucket 2018)
Funds support the development and implementation of a middle school action-civics curriculum at Goff Middle School in Pawtucket. The program empowers students to identify, address, and develop solutions to communal issues and challenges in their communities.
Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island, $2,000 to 23rd Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading
Funds support an annual event in Providence celebrating Langston Hughes’ poetic works and contributions to American art and culture. The event includes readings from community members of Hughes’ works, a jazz trio playing music of the Harlem Renaissance, and a keynote address from a public humanist.
School One, $2,000 to Write Rhode Island (2018)
Funds support the second year of a statewide creative writing competition for Rhode Island students in grades 7-12. As part of the contest, free workshops in community libraries across the state connect educators and professional writers with participating students. Winning students’ works are published in a professional anthology.
Documentary Film & Media:
Evan Villari, $2,000 to Blood and Water Shed: The Scituate Reservoir
Funds support the research phase of a documentary film exploring the creation of the Scituate Reservoir in the early 20th Century and its current role as Rhode Island’s largest freshwater resource. The final film examines the multidimensional role and impact of the Reservoir on Rhode Island culture, economics, infrastructure and residents’ sense of civic agency.
Individual Research:
Raymond Two Hawks Watson, $2,000 to Meshanticut Cultural Heritage Project
Funds support research exploring seven places of aboriginal cultural heritage located within the city limits of Providence. Research addresses contemporary misconceptions of first peoples’ historic residency and use of lands in the Providence area and results in a presentation at the second annual Living Culture Indigeneity Conference.
