DES MOINES, IOWA (December 12, 2024) — The State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa’s Interim Humanities Council, announced more than $140,000 in grants have been awarded to Iowa organizations and individuals working in the humanities in all corners of the state.
Humanities Project Grants offer support for public humanities projects that encourage contemplation, spark conversation, and engage the community. Eligible projects will use the humanities as the central resource to involve and benefit diverse groups of Iowans through educational programming that explores the human experience.
“We are thrilled to support humanities projects throughout Iowa because we know they make a difference in Iowa communities,” Interim Iowa Humanities Council Director Andrew Klumpp said. “We’re delighted to be able to invest in the humanities here in Iowa and help make our home a more vibrant and engaging place to live.”
Funding is made possible through the Office of Federal/State Partnership at the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Humanities
In this funding round, the Interim Iowa Humanities Council awarded $140,484 to eleven humanities projects through the Humanities Project Grant program, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Since 2020, the NEH has awarded a total of $3,060,768 to Iowa’s Interim Humanities Council, which has used these funds to support, develop, and invest in programs that reach every county in Iowa and that foster discussion, promote civic engagement and learning, and support the humanities sector across Iowa.
Here are a few examples of the humanities grants announced today:
- The Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation and The Grinnell Alliance's Culture Sharing Task Force will bring together representatives from across the community to plan and implement a community dialogue session. The session is designed to offer a safe space for participants who may not ordinarily engage with one another to build a sense of community and belonging and learn and practice skills related to inclusive dialogue.
- The Museum of Danish America will engage national and online audiences in the upcoming exhibition "Danish Ceramics: Beyond Blue and White." The goals of this proposed humanities project are to amplify the exhibition's content and themes through print and online media.
- Heritage Works, Inc. will host a one-and-a-half-day symposium that will examine the Prairie style of architecture in Iowa through the lens of two sites: Eagle Point Park in Dubuque, Iowa, designed by landscape architect Alfred Caldwell and completed in 1934, and Cedar Rock, Lowell, and Agnes Walter House, in Independence, Iowa, designed by internationally-acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1950.
Learn more about the Humanities Grants.
The State Historical Society of Iowa has been a trustee of Iowa’s historical legacy since 1857. With a dual mission of preservation and education, it maintains a museum, two research centers, and seven historic sites. The society preserves and provides access to Iowa’s historical resources through a variety of statewide programs, exhibitions, and projects while serving as an advocate for Iowa’s past and connector to the future. The society is part of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services. Follow the State Historical Society of Iowa on Facebook and Instagram.
