Announcing $207k in Grants and Sponsorships
Charlottesville, Va—Today, Virginia Humanities, the state humanities council, announced more than $207,185 in grants and sponsorships to 20 nonprofit organizations.
“For 50 years, we’ve had the honor of awarding grants to important projects that amplify the stories of the people of Virginia,” said Virginia Humanities’ executive director Matthew Gibson. “Each of these projects speaks to an aspect of what it means to be a Virginian, what it means to be human, and what it means to be part of the rich cultural tapestry that makes our commonwealth unique.”
Learn more about our grants program and other funding opportunities at VirginiaHumanities.org.
“Each of these projects speaks to an aspect of what it means to be a Virginian, what it means to be human, and what it means to be part of the rich cultural tapestry that makes our commonwealth unique.”
Matthew Gibson Executive Director, Virginia Humanities
The following projects received grants from Virginia Humanities between July and September 2024:
2024 We the People Competitions: Virginia Civics Education ($5,000)
Orange, VA
Support for two regional qualifying competitions for the “We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution” program which give students an opportunity to carefully study the theory and legal history of America’s constitutional democracy as well as gain experience in learning how to communicate, research, think critically, work as a team, and engage in civil discourse.
Clay Barr: Capturing an Oral History: The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA ($20,000)
Charlottesville, VA
Support for the collection of the oral history of art collector Clay Barr who has donated her collection of approximately 150 Torah pointers, or yads, to the museum which will be the center piece of an upcoming 2025 exhibition.
Election 2024 student news coverage for the Capital News Service: University of Richmond ($1,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for a news reporting project that will provide news coverage of the 2024 election and related issues to news outlets throughout Virginia as part of the student-run Capital News Service.
THE GATE: Untold Stories of America’s First Contrabands: Contraband Historical Society ($20,000)
Yorktown, VA
Support for a documentary of local and national historical significance that will share an untold history of Africans and African Americans in the United States during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
House to Highway: Reclaiming the Hidden History of Jackson Ward Exhibition and Partnership: Library of Virginia Foundation ($20,000)
Richmond, VA
“House to Highway: Reclaiming the Hidden History of Jackson Ward” will be a public-facing exhibition that shares the story of Abraham Skipwith, his descendants, and the fate of his community in a local story that directly illuminates national humanities themes.
Hyde Farmlands Permanent Exhibit: Virginia Holocaust Museum ($6,500.00)
Richmond, VA
Support to produce a new permanent exhibit based on a plantation farm tilled ‘Hyde Farmlands’ which will share stories of Virginians with direct connections to the Holocaust.
LGBTQ+ Activism in Southwest Virginia: A Rich History: OUTWORDS ($14,826)
Los Angeles, CA
Support for an oral history project that will professionally capture, archive, screen, discuss, and celebrate the stories of four early LGBTQ+ activists from the Virginia Tech community in Blacksburg, VA.
“Personal History and Present Day Concerns” Filmmaking Workshops: Light House Studio ($13,053)
Charlottesville, VA
Support for a series of “Personal History and Present Day Concerns” filmmaking workshops that will guide students in exploring their personal stories through documentary, poetry, and experimental film techniques.
The Richmonder news site: The Richmonder ($5,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for freelance writers during the 2024 Richmond Election Cycle who will attend town hall meetings and debates, campaign events, and conduct one-on-one interviews with candidates with the goal of writing informative news stories about the upcoming elections in Richmond City.
RVA Poetry Festival: Visual Arts Center of Richmond ($5,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for RVA Poetry Fest, a free annual community event that centers poetry as a means of human connection, storytelling, and community building.
Shockoe Institute’s 2025 Community-based Mobile Learning Lab Series: Shockoe Foundation ($20,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for a new Mobile Lab Series which will bring a prototype of the Shockoe Institute’s Learning Lab to Alexandria and Charlottesville in 2025, exploring themes such as America’s struggle to expand human freedom and how ideas about the hierarchy of human value continue to inform American social life.
Stories of the Fallen and the Rise of Women in the Military: Uniting US ($19,906.50)
Oilville, VA
“Stories of the Fallen and the Rise of Women Military” will create a timeline featuring the governing policies related to women in military service from 1944 to 2024, which will frame the oral histories that the project will collect from women veterans who served during those 80 years.
Teaching the Alexandria Library Sit-In of 1939: Developing Digital Maps as Learning Resources: New America ($19,700)
Washington, DC
Support for the development of free digital interactive maps for use by K-12 social studies educators and college instructors that will provide context for a little-known story in library and education history: The Library Sit-In of 1939.
Traditions and Transformation: Black Appalachia: Montgomery Museum of Art & History ($1,200)
Christiansburg, VA
Support for a presentation by Dr. Dena Jennings that will explore the many intercultural pieces of the quilt that is Appalachian culture during the museum’s annual music heritage program.
Truth Be Told: An Audio Storytelling History Project on the Elizabeth River Trail: Elizabeth River Trail Foundation ($20,000)
Norfolk, VA
Support for the development of audio stories that will be shared along the Elizabeth River Trail highlighting historic African American neighborhoods, acknowledging Norfolk’s role in the slave trade, and exploring the water’s connection to African American experiences.
Virginia War Memorial Oral Histories: Virginia War Memorial Foundation ($5,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for the digitization of 23 years’ worth of oral histories that share first person accounts of valor, sacrifice, fear, danger, and patriotism provided mainly by World War II veterans, all of whom are now deceased.
“Voices of Resilience: Stories of Refugee Journeys and Integration in Northern Virginia”: Pillars4Humanity ($5,000)
Chantilly, VA
Support for a series of panel discussions designed to highlight the diverse experiences and unique challenges faced by refugees in Northern Virginia.
Orange, VA
Support for two regional qualifying competitions for the “We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution” program which give students an opportunity to carefully study the theory and legal history of America’s constitutional democracy as well as gain experience in learning how to communicate, research, think critically, work as a team, and engage in civil discourse.
Clay Barr: Capturing an Oral History: The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA ($20,000)
Charlottesville, VA
Support for the collection of the oral history of art collector Clay Barr who has donated her collection of approximately 150 Torah pointers, or yads, to the museum which will be the center piece of an upcoming 2025 exhibition.
Election 2024 student news coverage for the Capital News Service: University of Richmond ($1,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for a news reporting project that will provide news coverage of the 2024 election and related issues to news outlets throughout Virginia as part of the student-run Capital News Service.
THE GATE: Untold Stories of America’s First Contrabands: Contraband Historical Society ($20,000)
Yorktown, VA
Support for a documentary of local and national historical significance that will share an untold history of Africans and African Americans in the United States during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
House to Highway: Reclaiming the Hidden History of Jackson Ward Exhibition and Partnership: Library of Virginia Foundation ($20,000)
Richmond, VA
“House to Highway: Reclaiming the Hidden History of Jackson Ward” will be a public-facing exhibition that shares the story of Abraham Skipwith, his descendants, and the fate of his community in a local story that directly illuminates national humanities themes.
Hyde Farmlands Permanent Exhibit: Virginia Holocaust Museum ($6,500.00)
Richmond, VA
Support to produce a new permanent exhibit based on a plantation farm tilled ‘Hyde Farmlands’ which will share stories of Virginians with direct connections to the Holocaust.
LGBTQ+ Activism in Southwest Virginia: A Rich History: OUTWORDS ($14,826)
Los Angeles, CA
Support for an oral history project that will professionally capture, archive, screen, discuss, and celebrate the stories of four early LGBTQ+ activists from the Virginia Tech community in Blacksburg, VA.
“Personal History and Present Day Concerns” Filmmaking Workshops: Light House Studio ($13,053)
Charlottesville, VA
Support for a series of “Personal History and Present Day Concerns” filmmaking workshops that will guide students in exploring their personal stories through documentary, poetry, and experimental film techniques.
The Richmonder news site: The Richmonder ($5,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for freelance writers during the 2024 Richmond Election Cycle who will attend town hall meetings and debates, campaign events, and conduct one-on-one interviews with candidates with the goal of writing informative news stories about the upcoming elections in Richmond City.
RVA Poetry Festival: Visual Arts Center of Richmond ($5,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for RVA Poetry Fest, a free annual community event that centers poetry as a means of human connection, storytelling, and community building.
Shockoe Institute’s 2025 Community-based Mobile Learning Lab Series: Shockoe Foundation ($20,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for a new Mobile Lab Series which will bring a prototype of the Shockoe Institute’s Learning Lab to Alexandria and Charlottesville in 2025, exploring themes such as America’s struggle to expand human freedom and how ideas about the hierarchy of human value continue to inform American social life.
Stories of the Fallen and the Rise of Women in the Military: Uniting US ($19,906.50)
Oilville, VA
“Stories of the Fallen and the Rise of Women Military” will create a timeline featuring the governing policies related to women in military service from 1944 to 2024, which will frame the oral histories that the project will collect from women veterans who served during those 80 years.
Teaching the Alexandria Library Sit-In of 1939: Developing Digital Maps as Learning Resources: New America ($19,700)
Washington, DC
Support for the development of free digital interactive maps for use by K-12 social studies educators and college instructors that will provide context for a little-known story in library and education history: The Library Sit-In of 1939.
Traditions and Transformation: Black Appalachia: Montgomery Museum of Art & History ($1,200)
Christiansburg, VA
Support for a presentation by Dr. Dena Jennings that will explore the many intercultural pieces of the quilt that is Appalachian culture during the museum’s annual music heritage program.
Truth Be Told: An Audio Storytelling History Project on the Elizabeth River Trail: Elizabeth River Trail Foundation ($20,000)
Norfolk, VA
Support for the development of audio stories that will be shared along the Elizabeth River Trail highlighting historic African American neighborhoods, acknowledging Norfolk’s role in the slave trade, and exploring the water’s connection to African American experiences.
Virginia War Memorial Oral Histories: Virginia War Memorial Foundation ($5,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for the digitization of 23 years’ worth of oral histories that share first person accounts of valor, sacrifice, fear, danger, and patriotism provided mainly by World War II veterans, all of whom are now deceased.
“Voices of Resilience: Stories of Refugee Journeys and Integration in Northern Virginia”: Pillars4Humanity ($5,000)
Chantilly, VA
Support for a series of panel discussions designed to highlight the diverse experiences and unique challenges faced by refugees in Northern Virginia.
The following projects received sponsorships from Virginia Humanities between July and September 2024:
Challenge Into Change: The Women’s Initiative ($2,000)
Charlottesville, VA
Support for Challenge Into Change program which honors women’s stories of overcoming life challenges to find hope and healing with readings by local community members who have written poems and essays about trauma and recovery.
Mending Walls: Exhibition, Film Screening, and Bus Tour in partnership with artist Hamilton Glass: The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design ($2,000)
Richmond, VA
Showcase of the Mending Walls murals in an exhibition with a film screening and guided bus tour in partnership with artist, Hamilton Glass, so that the public will have an opportunity to reflect on the powerful murals and explore their creation, history, and influence.
Weinstein JCC’s Israeli and Jewish Film Festival: Carole and Marcus Weinstein Jewish Community Center ($2,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for a festival presenting films that will create awareness of issues that are relevant to both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities in Central Virginia and provide opportunities for engagement.
Charlottesville, VA
Support for Challenge Into Change program which honors women’s stories of overcoming life challenges to find hope and healing with readings by local community members who have written poems and essays about trauma and recovery.
Mending Walls: Exhibition, Film Screening, and Bus Tour in partnership with artist Hamilton Glass: The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design ($2,000)
Richmond, VA
Showcase of the Mending Walls murals in an exhibition with a film screening and guided bus tour in partnership with artist, Hamilton Glass, so that the public will have an opportunity to reflect on the powerful murals and explore their creation, history, and influence.
Weinstein JCC’s Israeli and Jewish Film Festival: Carole and Marcus Weinstein Jewish Community Center ($2,000)
Richmond, VA
Support for a festival presenting films that will create awareness of issues that are relevant to both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities in Central Virginia and provide opportunities for engagement.
About Virginia Humanities
Virginia Humanities is the state humanities council. We’re headquartered in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia, but we serve the entire state. We aim to share the stories of all Virginians—or, better yet, find ways for people to share their own stories. We want Virginians to connect with their history and culture and, in doing that, we hope we’ll all get to know each other a little better. Founded in 1974, we are one of 56 humanities councils created by Congress with money and support from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make the humanities available to all Americans. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org.
Virginia Humanities is the state humanities council. We’re headquartered in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia, but we serve the entire state. We aim to share the stories of all Virginians—or, better yet, find ways for people to share their own stories. We want Virginians to connect with their history and culture and, in doing that, we hope we’ll all get to know each other a little better. Founded in 1974, we are one of 56 humanities councils created by Congress with money and support from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make the humanities available to all Americans. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org.