Ten grants were made totaling more that $210,000 to support humanities-based programming in eight different communities. Each month, Connecticut Humanities distributes money allocated by the Connecticut State Legislature, through a highly-competitive, merit-based application process. See the recent grant list below.
The Simsbury Public Library has received a grant of $1,125 to fund a series of free events that examine the life, times, and impact of Gifford Pinchot and George McLean— two men who helped determine the geographic shape of the United States. Between June 4 and June 11, the Library will sponsor a lecture, a performance by James Foote portraying Teddy Roosevelt, a hike at McLean Game Refuge, and an architectural tour of the Simsbury 1820 House.
The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society has been funded $4,990 to support the program, “West Hartford Business: Images of Suburban Development.” This exhibit will examine the history of commerce in the town through a series of modern and historical images. More than 45 images and artifacts will be featured from May 25 to October 2.
A grant of $4,999 will support the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven for seven films that relate to Jewish and Israeli issues. The series will run through May 17 at various locations in the towns served by the community center. Scholar-led discussions exploring of the films’ themes will follow the screenings.
The New Haven International Festival of Arts & Ideas was granted $50,000 to fund 14 lectures and panel discussions focusing on social issues, such as the value of human labor, immigration, gender equality, and place and displacement. The 2016 Festival theme “Working On It” features engaging discussions and entertainment, reaffirming the Festival’s goal that “Arts” performances and “Ideas” programs illuminate one another. The two-week long event opens June 10 and runs through June 25.
Artspace in New Haven received $9,047 to fund seven upcoming exhibitions. These exhibits will be accompanied by poetic works and educational programs for students and the public. Artspace plans to use poetry as a means to interpret the artwork shown in the gallery in an effort to encourage experimentation, discovery, and lively civic discourse through art.
A grant of $24,999 was given to the Middlesex County Historical Society for the program, “A Vanished Port” – a long-term exhibition that will showcase the port system that had a far-reaching impact on the world today. The display will intertwine Middletown, the West Indies Trade and the economic boom, with the suffering of enslaved workers and the slavery trade. “A Vanished Port” will be on display for two years, beginning September 8.
A grant of $42,875 was awarded to the Florence Griswold Museum of Old Lyme to provide funding for “The Artist’s Garden.” This garden-themed exhibition will feature the American Impressionist art story through various artistic, social and historical lenses and examine the growth in popularity of gardening as a middle-class leisure activity at the turn of the 20th Century. Galleries and educational programs will help visitors understand and discuss the garden movement. The exhibit will be held from June 3 through September 18.
The Mystic Seaport Museum was granted $10,415 for the development of an exhibition centered on the newly re-installed captain’s cabin of the Down East merchant ship, The Benjamin F. Packard. The planning phase of this project requires extensive research in the museum’s collections and an audience study on engagement. This exhibit will teach about the maritime cargo trade that shaped Connecticut throughout history.
A grant of $50,000 was awarded to the Hill-Stead Museum of Farmington. The grant will help fund the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, the museum’s longest running public program. The Festival includes five evenings of poetry over the course of the summer. The performances begin with a prelude which gives the audience and the poet an opportunity for interaction, mutual learning and reflection. The evenings also include readings by student or emerging poets, a musical performance, and writing workshops hosted by each headlining poet. This year’s roster includes U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, Pulitzer Prize winner Heather McHugh, Ed Hirsch, Kwame Dawes, and U.S. Army Veteran Brian Turner.
The Madison Historical Society was given a grant of $15,166 for its exhibition “Over There, Over Here.” The project is a collaboration between the Historical Society and the Charlotte L. Evarts Memorial Archive, and includes programming which features a film series, musical programs and book talks regarding WWI and how the war affected the Madison community. The two-year exhibition will open on July 8.
