CT Humanities’ Board of Directors recently approved thirteen grant awards totaling $209,864 in funding from the State of Connecticut.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Cyndi Tolosa, ctolosa@cthumanities.org 860.986.6704
Middletown, CT (February 17, 2026) – CT Humanities’ most recent round of Capacity, Planning, and Implementation grants support several initiatives and projects that center Black, Indigenous, and Puerto Rican voices, communities, and stories.
“Ann Petry and the James Family Letters,” a documentary film years in the making, highlights a Connecticut African-American family and their contributions to Connecticut life and literature, told through the lens of the family’s treasure trove of correspondence, diary entries, and writings. NXTHVN’s Glory exhibition honors the aesthetics of everyday survival and the ways working class Black American families have built beauty, community, and meaning inside the home interior walls that held them. Other funded projects include capacity-building initiatives to improve organizations’ technology, improve their fundraising skills, and assess their collection strengths and needs; a first-ever survey of Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ historic structures and places; an exhibition exploring New Haven’s Unfinished Revolutions on the eve of the Nation’s 250th anniversary; and a literary festival celebrating James Merrill’s birthday.
“This round of grants highlight many important, untold Connecticut stories and empowers organizations of all sizes to share them with the public,” said CT Humanities Deputy Director of Grants and Programs Scott Wands. “Through documentary film, exhibitions, digital learning platforms, and public discussion programs, these projects help our state better understand its people, its history, and the issues facing us as a society today.”
The full list of funded programs is:
CAPACITY GRANTS:
ActUp Theater (Hartford, $9,999)
ActUp Theater Arts for All: Capacity Building & Sustainability Project
ActUp Theater seeks funding for our Arts for All Project, to strengthen organizational capacity and expand access to transformative arts experiences for youth and the wider community, enabling them to thrive in a safe and supportive arts environment. This project involves conducting a comprehensive fundraising assessment to evaluate current development practices and build a strategic pipeline for long-term sustainability, cultivating creativity, dramaturgy, and analytical thinking.
Farmington Historical Society (Farmington, $9,999)
FHS Website Revamp as part of overall Strategic Plan (Marketing & Engagement)
Farmington Historical Society is undertaking a project to overhaul, redesign and modernize its website, making it mobile-friendly, functionally sound, accessible, and engaging for a wider audience. Major components include the digitization of select collections, creation of interactive online exhibits, and reimplementation of community-focused public programs. Preliminary work has already begun; our long term goal is to serve as a hub for virtual programming, interactive exhibits, and marketing.
Hartford Medical Society (Litchfield, $9,999)
Preserving Connecticut’s Medical History: Planning for Digitization of the Hartford Medical Society Collection
The Hartford Medical Society seeks a CTH Capacity Grant to engage Trinity College’s Watkinson Library as a consulting partner in conducting a comprehensive assessment of the HMS Collection. This assessment will evaluate the collection’s condition, historical significance, and readiness for digitization, with the goal of expanding public access to CTs rich medical heritage. The resulting plan will guide a future digitization project to make the collection accessible through digital platforms.
PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS:
Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed (Stonington, $25,000)
“Native Peoples in Connecticut: Governance”
“Native Peoples in Connecticut: Governance” is a 30 minute documentary exploring the humanities theme of governance in the five state and federally recognized tribes in Connecticut. The documentary will be broadcast on Connecticut Public in November, 2026, and will be available as a curriculum resource for the state mandate to teach Native American studies in CT schools. The film will be available for educational programs throughout CT to foster a better understanding of Indigenous Peoples.
Community Foundation of Middlesex County (Middletown, $30,000)
Ann Petry and the James Family Letters
ANN PETRY AND THE JAMES FAMILY LETTERS is an hour-long film about a Connecticut African-American family that rose from slavery and produced many “firsts,” including shaping the life of author Ann Petry, the first Black woman to sell over a million copies of a novel, inspiring generations of feminist writers. Using Petry’s diaries, essays, and 400 “turn of the century” family letters discovered in a cookie tin, the film reveals a legacy of resilience and the pioneering spirit of America.
James Merrill House Foundation (Stonington, $24,868)
James Merrill Centennial: Stonington Literary Festival 2026
The James Merrill Centennial: Stonington Literary Festival (October 2–4, 2026) will celebrate 100 years since James Merrill’s birth. The event will highlight Merrill’s enduring creative influence, the diverse community of more than 130 JMH Writers in Residence, and area writers. Public programming will include workshops, readings, keynotes, performances, and community partnerships across multiple venues in Stonington Borough.
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (Mashantucket, $30,000)
Study & Struggle
STUDY AND STRUGGLE is an essay-style documentary, centered on four land-grant universities, that traces the entangled histories of land, learning, and resistance in U.S. higher education. With a multi-pronged release in the fall of 2027, the film invites audiences to reflect on how education is shaped by place—and how it might be reimagined through more grounded, relational forms of knowing.
New Britain Museum of American Art (New Britain, $5,000)
The Museum of the Old Colony: An Art Installation by Pablo Delano
From March 14-July 5, 2026, the New Britain Museum of American Art will present “The Museum of the Old Colony: An Art Installation by Pablo Delano.” Conceived by Hartford-based artist Pablo Delano, this site-specific installation takes the form of an imagined museum. Through poignant juxtapositions of historical photographs and artifacts, the exhibition confronts legacies of U.S. colonial rule in Puerto Rico and its Connecticut diaspora. Public lectures and performances are offered throughout.
New Haven Museum (New Haven, $24,999)
New Haven Museum’s Exhibition “New Haven’s Unfinished Revolutions”
The New Haven Museum will commemorate America 250 with New Haven’s Unfinished Revolutions, opening late spring 2026. This semi-permanent exhibition will highlight significant moments when freedoms were expanded or restricted in New Haven within the larger context of US history. It will serve as a foundational space for public and K–12 programs, inviting visitors to explore social movements that transformed ideas about human rights and liberty.
NXTHVN (New Haven, $5,000)
Glory at NXTHVN
Glory (working title) advances the humanities by foregrounding Black domestic material culture—furniture, photographs, textiles, and everyday objects—as vital sources of cultural memory and meaning-making. By transforming the gallery into a home-space where these materials act as carriers of history, identity, and imagination, the exhibition demonstrates how material culture shapes and sustains the narratives that define human experience.
Preservation Connecticut (Hamden, $25,000)
Connecticut LGBTQ+ Historic Places Survey
Preservation CT’s LGBTQ+ Historic Places Survey project is the first comprehensive effort to identify, commemorate, and preserve historic sites associated with the State’s LGBTQ+ community. In partnership with LGBTQ+ community members, scholars, students, volunteers, and partner institutions, PCT staff will conduct historical research to create a publicly accessible digital map and a linked oral history archive that will commemorate the contributions of LGBTQ+ citizens to Connecticut history.
TheaterWorks (Hartford, $5,000)
Circus Fire Humanities Programming
In conjunction with its production of CIRCUS FIRE (April 16 – May 17, 2026), TheaterWorks Hartford (TWH) will be producing a panel discussion. The panel is currently scheduled for April 25, at 11am, at Hartford Public Library. The TalkBacks are at the Footguard on April 28, May 5 and 12. We will also work with the City of Hartford to restore the site of the fire on Barbour Street with new plaques, as well as new signage on the street indicating the site, with a celebration at the conclusion.
University of Hartford (West Hartford, $5,000)
Planning Grant for Hartford Art School at 150 years
Hartford Art School celebrates its 150th anniversary from Fall 2027 to Spring 2028. The school was founded by women, and programming will honor Feminist history and contemporary art. A printed history will be included in the school’s view book, written by leading historians.
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Connecticut Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
CTH connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships, and collaborative programs. CTH projects, administration, and program development are supported by state and federal matching funds, community foundations, and gifts from private sources. Learn more by visiting cthumanities.org.
