For Immediate Release
January 20, 2022
Contact: Aimee Cotton Bogush | abogush@cthumanities.org | 860-937-6648
Download Release – PDF
CT Humanities Awards $310,213 to 13 Connecticut Cultural Organizations for Project and Capacity Building Grants
Middletown, CT – At their December 21, 2021, board meeting, CT Humanities (CTH) awarded $310,213 in Capacity, Planning, and Implementation Grants to 13 humanities organizations in Connecticut.
“CT Humanities is proud to support this collection of projects that challenge us to think critically about our histories, our policies and practices, and how we can build a more just and inclusive Connecticut as we imagine “a more perfect union,” stated Dr. Jason R. Mancini, CTH Executive Director. “These projects explore different ways to bring us together as Connecticans.”
Capacity Grant recipients:
Bill Memorial Library (Groton, $9,999), Fundraising Training for Library Stakeholders
Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, $9,999), DEAI: External Process & Critical Issues Report
Capacity Building grants support Connecticut organizations that bring the humanities to the public by helping them better understand their audiences, assets, and operations.
Project Planning and Implementation Grant recipients:
The Housing Collective (Bridgeport, $23,460), The History of Connecticut’s Housing Crisis
Cornwall Historical Society (Cornwall, $11,386), Finding Freeman(s): Freedom, Property, and Identity in Cornwall
Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut (Danbury, $35,000), School District – a feature-length documentary film
Connecticut Public (Hartford, $23,000), Separate and Unequal: How Housing Policy Keeps Schools Segregated
The Connecticut Forum (Hartford, $35,000), The Fight For Racial Justice
The Mark Twain House and Museum (Hartford, $17,370), Planning for Summering with Twain Exhibition
Naugatuck Historical Society (Naugatuck, $25,000), Naugatuck: Town of Dreamers, City of Invention
Garde Arts Center (New London, $24,999), Henny and Hannover, Coming to terms with the past. And the future.
The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk (Norwalk, $25,000), Marshing through Time
Florence Griswold Museum (Old Lyme, $35,000), New London County Quilts and Bed Covers, 1750–1825
Eastern Connecticut State University Foundation (Windham, $35,000), Stepping into the Shade: Tobacco’s Connection to Civil Rights
Project Planning and Implementation grants support projects that help us understand and appreciate human history, culture, values, and beliefs. They allow us to analyze our complex society and to make thoughtful, reasoned decisions based on inquiry, evaluation, and empathy.
Jason Patlis, President and CEO of The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, said the Aquarium is excited to use its $25,000 grant to create a new interactive display called Marshing Through Time.
“We’re very grateful for this award from Connecticut Humanities, which will allow The Maritime Aquarium to bring to life the history of Long Island Sound’s marshlands – how they have changed over time and how they have shaped the very culture and economy of Connecticut and the region through the centuries,” Patlis said. “Through multimedia storytelling and digital depictions of historical artifacts, Marshing Through Time will give Aquarium guests an important understanding of the inextricable link between our natural world and our culture and history, while also challenging them to consider what steps we can take – individually and collectively – to restore our marshlands to a healthy ecosystem.”
“Finding Freedman(s) was inspired in part by George Floyd’s death in 2020,” said Suzie Fateh, the Cornwall Historical Society’s curator. “Although research on Cornwall’s Black residents began before Floyd’s murder, in the months following staff and the board saw an immediate need for transforming the research project into an exhibition. As a historical society with collections that span almost 300 years, it is our mission and responsibility to ensure that our exhibitions and programming accurately reflect the history of Cornwall and the region. This grant will ensure the resources necessary to prepare for the exhibition and programs that will change the perception of Cornwall’s history. We are extremely fortunate to have Frank Mitchell as our guest curator — he will play a central role in guiding the development of this exhibition.”
“Connecticut Public’s recent documentary that examined the landmark Sheff V. O’Neill case of 1996 and its resulting school integration programs deepened our curiosity about how housing policies in Connecticut drive school segregation. This planning grant will enable us to create a new original documentary that investigates how housing insecurity and inequality allow racial segregation to thrive in Connecticut and how our policies relate to a broader national crisis in housing stability. We are grateful to CT Humanities for the opportunity to tell this important story,” explained Tim Rasmussen, Chief Content Officer, Connecticut Public.
“The Fight for Racial Justice is one of the most important issues of our time. Thank you to CT Humanities for helping us engage our community in this critical conversation and examine and confront the structural inequities in our society,” said Ruth Cullen, executive director at The Connecticut Forum.
# # #
About CT Humanities
CT Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH promotes civic engagement and 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.
