CT Humanities was honored to partner with the CT Office of the Arts again to administer the CT Summer at the Museum Initiative in 2022.

The Department of Economic and Community Development, in partnership with the Office of the Governor, Connecticut State Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood and Connecticut Humanities, delivered these financially accessible summer enrichment opportunities to families and children of all ages using funding provided through ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act).

These grants were made available to CT Museums to facilitate free admission for all CT children aged 18 and under and one adult caregiver between July 1, 2022 and September 5, 2022.

In summer 2022, award decisions were calculated based on summer 2021 revenue from admissions for CT visitors under 18 and a base award determined by your operating expenses in 2021 and previous years.* All eligible organizations received a minimum award of $1,000. Organizations that do not charge admission received funding to help cover expenses related to increased visitation.

All 501(c)(3) non-profit museums applied through CT Humanities. For-profit museums completed applications with the CT Office of the Arts.

Museums interested in participating in this free admission initiative but did not want to apply for funding were invited to join the list of organizations with free admission.

For a full list of museums that participated in the 2022 CT Summer at the Museum program, please visit CTsummermuseums.com

Stay tuned for more information about the 2023 CT Summer at the Museum initiative in early 2023.

Questions? Email lpartridge@cthumanities.org

This program is designed to support all CT museums. To be eligible for funding, an organization must meet the following definition of a museum:

A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.

For the purposes of this initiative, “museums” refers broadly to historic house museums, historic sites, historical societies, art museums, children’s museums, science centers, special-interest museums, natural history museums, university museums, arboretums/botanical gardens and zoos.

Additional Eligibility Requirements

All of the following requirements must be met:

• Applicant organizations must be one of the following:
  • A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of Connecticut for at least one year and governed by a board of directors that meets regularly, OR
  • Be owned by a municipality in the state of Connecticut, OR
  • Be run by a Connecticut-based federally or State recognized tribe, OR
  • Be a CT State-operated Museum

For-profit museums should complete an application with the CT Office of the Arts.

• Be registered with the Secretary of the State to do business in the State of Connecticut and be in Good Standing (able to obtain a current Certificate of Legal Existence/Good Standing)  Note:  This does not apply to municipally-owned museums.
• Have its primary place of business and operations in the State of Connecticut
• Have financial documents/statements for the period of time that covers July 1 – September 6, 2021
• Will be open for in-person visitors at least eight (8) hours a week between July 1 – September 5, 2022. If you are open less than (8) hours per week, but are also available to the public by appointment, please submit an application and note this in the narrative.

NOTE:  The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) and/or Connecticut Humanities reserves the right to request documentation as needed to determine an applicant’s eligibility.

Please read the CT Summer at the Museum guidelines before applying.

View Grant Guidelines

We are working to shorten applications where possible. We will not request information we have previously collected through other grant lines. To preview the 2022 application, click on the description that best fits your organization:

1. I have not previously received a CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant or CT Summer at the Museum Grant
2. I have previously received a CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant (but not a CT Summer at the Museum Grant)
3. I have previously received a CT Summer at the Museum Grant

Applications for the 2023 CT Summer at the Museum program are currently not open.

The following dates were used for the 2022 CT Summer at the Museum program. Stay tuned for more information on the 2023 CT Summer at the Museum program coming early 2023.

Virtual Information Session: The virtual information session has passed, but you can view a recording of the session here.

2022 Application Deadline: The deadline has been extended to: June 6, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.

Award Notification: The week of June 13th

Applicants must accept awards and notify funder by Wednesday June 22, 2022.

Contracts (UPON approval by state legislature) will be sent to applicants between June 22 – June 30, 2022.

Payments will not begin until mid to late July.

Grant Period: July 1, 2022 – September 5, 2022

Grant funds may be expended on eligible expenses within the period of March 3, 2021 – December 31, 2024.

The following FAQs were intended for the 2022 CT Summer at the Museum program. Please note that answers may vary slightly for the 2023 CT Summer at the Museum program.