Maryland Humanities is pleased to award $4,000 in mini grant funding to four Maryland organizations: Coppin State University Development Foundation, Forest Woods Media Productions, Prince George’s Community College Foundation, and Urban Rural Action. The grantees are located in Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Washington County, respectively. Funded projects include a public radio show featuring Maryland poets, virtual classes about Black women’s journey for voting rights, and more.
Mini grants provide support of up to $1,200 per recipient. Nonprofit organizations that use the humanities—literature, philosophy, history, and other disciplines—to inspire Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities are eligible to apply. Grant criteria encourage free public programming in many forms. The next mini grant round application deadline is November 1, 2020.
Maryland Humanities also provides major grants with support of up to $10,000 per recipient. Letters of Intent are required of all major grant applicants, and the next LOI deadline is September 1, 2020.
To learn more about our Grants Program, eligibility, and deadlines, visit www.mdhumanities.org/grants.
The four grants included now here in Anne Arundel County!
Coppin State University Development Foundation
A Long Walk for African American Women: 125-Year Journey for Voting Rights (1895 to 2020)
Baltimore City
Grant Award: $1,000
This project will be comprised of three master classes: The Black Women’s Club Movement and the Relationship between Black and White Suffragettes (1895 to 1915); The Fight for the Ballot from the 19th Amendment to the Voting Rights Act (1915 to 1965); and The Struggle Continues—Preserving and Protecting our Voting Rights (1965 to 2020). Using an interactive virtual conferencing platform, the classes will be offered to people throughout the state.
Forest Woods Media Productions
The Poet and the Poem: Voices of Maryland Poets
Anne Arundel County
Grant Award: $1,000
The Poet and the Poem is an ongoing series that has been on public radio since 1977—founded, produced, and hosted by Maryland Poet Laureate, Grace Cavalieri. Each show presents a Maryland poet reading their work followed by conversation that parses and analyzes the writing process. Fifteen programs will be featured on the Maryland State Arts Council website, as well as on iTunes and public radio as a series in January 2021.
Prince George’s Community College Foundation
Black Culture Matters Series
Prince George’s County
Grant Award: $1,000
Four Fall Community Lectures will offer historical and cultural context for a given topic, inviting the community to think about ways expanded historical knowledge might inform the racially charged present moment. Lecture topics include Celebrating While Black: From Juneteenth to Black August; Black Hair-itage, History & Healing; Writing Freedom: Black Literature and Racial Justice; and Media, Music, and Memory. A Spring Symposium will serve as a critical rejoinder to the fall events.
Urban Rural Action
Deepening Connection and Understanding Across Maryland’s Urban/Rural Divide
Washington County
Grant Award: $1,000
This program is a collaboration among Urban Rural Action, Towson University’s Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility office, and the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. To date, a cohort of 25 Maryland residents from Baltimore, Silver Spring, Frederick, and Hagerstown have formed three teams based on their desire to work on the issues of systemic racism, economic recovery, and education. Project teams will design concrete plans to address each challenge within and/or across urban and rural communities in Maryland.
