Our partnership with the Connecticut Heritage Foundation and Conservation ConneCTion supports the Collections Assessment Grant Program, which provides small and mid-sized museums with a free assessment of their museum or archive collections. Grant recipients receive a half-day site visit from a museum curator or archivist who will examine collections on exhibit, in storage, and policies and procedures related to collection care and management and provide a written report. Every assessment report will include a prioritized list of recommendations for improving the care and management of collections.

Funding for this partnership will expand the capacity of the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program (CCHAP) at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History (CTM) to better serve diverse cultural communities throughout the state. This will be accomplished through increased community-informed consultation, in-depth cultural instruction within communities, community-led projects and collaboration, and open access to a growing catalog of digital assets in the CCHAP archive of materials at the CTM.

Our partnership with the Connecticut Digital Archive, a program of the University of Connecticut Library, will support the development and launch of My Town, My Story. My Town, My Story will work with public libraries across the state to build digital collections of their local history by encouraging individuals and community groups to contribute to the shared memory of their town.

Through our renewed partnership, Connecticut Explored will strengthen the strategic goals of both organizations by increasing support for historical research and writing, public history projects, and K-12 history, social studies, and humanities education statewide.

Our partnership with the Connecticut League of Museums (CLM) will help forge a stronger, more robust, and sustainable League with the capacity to serve not only Connecticut’s history community but its entire museum ecosystem. Partnership funds support five main areas to achieve the goal of becoming a state museum association: expanding staff, strategic planning, direct services to museums, expanding digital infrastructure through the Connecticut Collections project, and outreach to the broader museum community.

Through this partnership, the Connecticut Democracy Center (CTDC) will be able to increase staff for two signature and award-winning civics/history programs: Connecticut History Day (CHD) and Connecticut’s Kid Governor® (CTKG). Increased staff will allow for expanded audiences and participation, deepen engagement opportunities, add enhancements and resources, and an increase focus on equitable access. CTDC will also be able to deepen and expand services to teachers and students in underserved communities.

Partnership funding will continue the successful work of the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies (CCSS) to employ an equity lens to lead implementation of the new social studies standards, offer professional development, and provide funding for sustainable partnerships between cultural institutions and schools.

CT Humanities has invested in the University of Connecticut’s History Department’s Engaged, Public, Oral, and Community Histories (EPOCH) initiative to leverage the subject matter expertise and resources of the state’s flagship university to tell fuller, more inclusive stories about Connecticut through collaboration and capacity building with community organizations, K-12 teachers, historical societies, public libraries, and individuals in the areas of engaged, public, oral, and community histories. This funding relationship grew out of the relationship between Fiona Vernal and CT Humanities convening the Oral History Collaborative in 2020 and recognizing a need for more statewide coordinated efforts for oral history projects. 

CT Humanities will continue to work alongside the International Festival of Arts & Ideas to elevate conversations centered on the most pressing issues of our time through the Ideas series – the flagship humanities component of the Festival for almost 30 years. In 2023-2024, funding from CT Humanities will support presenting world-renowned speakers from Connecticut and around the globe and building deeper connections with educators and young people across the state. 

Through this partnership, CT Humanities will continue to collaborate with the Connecticut Arts Alliance to build a more robust cultural infrastructure in the state with stronger ties between arts and humanities. The Arts Alliance will share funding and professional development opportunities with their membership and the larger arts community, co-host informational sessions for the cultural community, and work closely with CT Humanities leadership to promote the economic and community value of culture.