The board of directors of CT Humanities has awarded $44,694 in grants from the CT Humanities Fund to nine Connecticut cultural and higher education institutions for initiatives and projects rooted in literature and cultural history.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Dana Barcellos-Allen, dbarcellos-allen@cthumanities.org 860.937.6648
Middletown, CT (March 13, 2025) – This round of grant funding supports organizations across Connecticut – from the shoreline, to the Northwest Corner, to the center of the state – that are offering strong humanities-based exhibits, celebrations, and lectures.
One project, Timeless Newtown: Embracing Every Generation, is a year-long initiative that aims to draw the community closer together by increasing awareness of negative stereotypes around aging with workshops, lunch and learns, and community-wide reads of Ageism Unmasked and A Kid’s Book on Ageism.
Other funded projects include Quinnipiac University’s first intertribal Powwow, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas’ Big Read that focuses on Fahrenheit 451, workshops on the impact of translation on Shakespeare, a Vietnamese poetry gallery show, an interactive on-wheels exhibit based on a children’s adventure book, and panels on graphic novels.
“Our state is fortunate to have so many organizations that are committed to strong humanities programs that help form critical thinking skills and better connect us to each other and to our communities,” said Scott Wands, Deputy Director of Grants and Programs at CT Humanities. “Now, more than ever, we need the wisdom of the humanities to help us understand other perspectives and cultures, and we are proud to support these institutions and their work.”
CT Humanities’ most recent Quick Grant funded programs include:
Connecticut Museum of Culture and History (Hartford, $4,999)
The Key to Adventure Exhibit-On-Wheels
The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History and cARTie, the Museum Bus for Kids, will present a state-wide exhibit-on-wheels from late June to early August 2025, inspired by The Key to Adventure, a soon-to-be-published children’s book created by Museum staff. As part of the Museum’s 200th anniversary, the bus will transform into scenes from the book, visiting ten locations where families can explore, learn through participatory activities, and get a free copy.
Elm Shakespeare Company (New Haven, $4,999)
Building a Brave New Theatre – Shakespeare in Translation
What is preserved, lost, or transformed when stories cross languages, cultures, and time? Building a Brave New Theatre 2025: Shakespeare in Translation (Feb–Oct) is a year-long humanities inquiry through discussions, workshops, and scholarship that explores how translation reshapes meaning, identity, and storytelling. Featuring global artists and scholars, it invites audiences to reconsider how Shakespeare’s works take on new life through reimagining.
Friends of Newtown Seniors (Newtown, $4,977)
Timeless Newtown: Embracing Every Generation
Timeless Newtown: Embracing Every Generation initiated by Friends of Newtown Seniors will address negative stereotypes often internalized by older adults; aging as universal but unique for each of us; research on aging with an emphasis on moving the public dialogue from discussions of life span to health span; demonstrate the impact that ageist ideas have on the mental and physical well-being at every age.
Guilford Performing Arts Festival (Guilford, $4,999)
GreenStage Guilford Live Arts Festival Performance and After-Show Artist Conversations
The 2025 GreenStage Guilford Live Arts Festival, August 10-17, presents approximately 30 live performances, educational and interactive events that showcase regional and global history, culture and values via the arts. The majority will be followed by community conversations with the artists to foster understanding of the histories, cultures, beliefs, traditions, literature, art forms, and motivations that informed the works.
Kulturally LIT Inc (New Haven, $4,999)
DiasporaCon 2025
DiasporaCon: Radical and Revolutionary Reading is a one-day conference that explores the impact graphic novels and DIY publishing have on storytelling, community building, and shifting narratives in social movements. On April 27 at NXTHVN in New Haven, the conference will feature panel discussions, workshops, and a vendor marketplace highlighting the contributions of underrepresented creators and the power of radical storytelling.
Manchester Community College Foundation, Inc. (Manchester, $4,999)
The CT State Manchester Common Read Gallery Show
The Spring 2025 Common Read Gallery Show, “Surrounded By Ghosts: Hauntings in the Vietnamese Diaspora,” features Ocean Vuong, Xuân Pham, and Thuan Vu. These artists bring the themes and issues represented in the language of Vuong’s poetry to the visual arts through their mediums of painting, sculpture, and photography to illustrate the diversity of Vietnamese-American experience, common points of connection, and the relationship between the cultural production of literature and fine arts.
New Haven International Festival of Arts and Ideas (New Haven, $4,999)
Big Read 2025
The International Festival of Arts & Ideas (Arts & Ideas), along with the New Haven Free Public Library and community partners, will present the Big Read from April-June 2025. Over a dozen events, all free and open to the public, are designed to spark enthusiasm for reading while engaging our community with the themes of FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury. Offerings will include book discussions, lectures, panels, and more.
Northwestern Community College Foundation (Winchester, $4,724)
Mad River Festival
The 2025 Mad River Festival celebrates “Connection” through collaborative art, literature, and community events. Featuring acclaimed poet Chen Chen and fabric artist Sophia DeJesus-Sabella, the April 16 festival is an opportunity for the campus and the NW corner to connect with and learn from these artists. A facilitated conversation with student leaders, the festival will unpack key themes like self-discovery/acceptance, family dynamics and cultural expectations, agency and survival.
Quinnipiac University (Hamden, $4,999)
Dancing in the Shadow of the Giant: Quinnipiac University’s First Intertribal Powwow
Quinnipiac University will host its first intertribal Powwow “Dancing in the Shadow of the Giant” on April 13. Led by the Indigenous Student Union, the Powwow and its related pre- and post-events bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples to honor Native American cultures and identities through lectures, workshops, talking circles, the annual teach-in, and the signature event, the Powwow. The Powwow events are free and open to the campus community as well as the public.
For information on Quick Grants eligibility and application due dates, visit cthumanities.org/grants/quick-grants
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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.
