For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Kerri Young, Communications Manager, kyoung@calhum.org
September 3, 2024—(Oakland, CA)—California Humanities is proud to announce its new summer 2024 Humanities for All Quick Grant awards to 11 nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the state. These grants, totaling $52,500, will support a wide range of humanities-centered activities over the coming months that will enable Californians to deepen their understanding of their own communities and histories and learn about others’ by participating in a wide range of cultural experiences. This includes interpretive exhibits, film and discussion programs, performances and workshops led by humanities experts, artists, and culture bearers, facilitated dialogues, guided history walks, and story-sharing programs for all ages.
Among the exciting new projects is Rooted: Creating equitable access to green space for Black Angelenos through conversation, art and poetry, a collaboration between public and private partners that aims to increase park access for low-income Black families and encourage them to enjoy and engage with nature through a series of free community discussions, oral history recording sessions, digital mapping, interpretive art-making, nature walks, and an exhibit that will be co-created by the participants.
Applications are now accepted at any time and reviewed on a rolling basis, with awards made monthly instead of quarterly, as previously.
“We are delighted that recent changes to make our Quick Grant application process easier and more accessible have been well-received by our community partners,” said Rick Noguchi, President and CEO of California Humanities. “As we strive to center equity in our work, the move to a rolling deadline will help smaller organizations make big impacts in the communities they serve.”
The Humanities for All Quick Grant program is a competitive application that provides up to $5,000 to support small-scale locally initiated public humanities projects. See the complete description of awarded projects below.
Projects Awarded Summer 2024
In addition to continuing consideration of all eligible project applications on any topic, using any mode or format, and reaching any public audience, California Humanities designated three specific funding focus areas for Humanities for All Quick Grants: Youth Voices (denoted by “*”), Arts & Humanities (denoted by “+”).
Voices on the Inside: The Multi-Modal Art and Humanity of People in Women’s Prisons +
Poetic Justice Inc, San Diego
Project Director: Sam Bhatia
Voices on the Inside is an interactive multimodal exhibition created by incarcerated members of Poetic Justice, a nonprofit providing trauma-responsive arts in women’s prisons and jails that will be installed at San Diego State University’s Digital Humanities Library from September–December 2024. The interactive art exhibit engages visitors in conversations around self-portrait art making and trauma, mass incarceration, gender-based violence, poverty, addiction, and mental illness. Over four months, students, researchers, and the public will observe the self-portraits of incarcerated women, read their poetry, hear them speaking in recorded interviews for the first time, and learn more about the history and current realities of incarceration.
The 30th Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture: Ang Pagbabalik (A Homecoming) +
Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts & Culture, Los Angeles
Project Director: Giselle Tongi
Marking the organization’s 30th anniversary of work on cultural preservation and community building, this free one-day festival will enable Filipino Americans to connect with their roots, celebrate their unique identity, and provide everyone a gateway to a rich cultural heritage that will foster inclusivity and appreciation for the diverse tapestry that makes Los Angeles a global city. Explore Batok tattooing and weaving at the Ancestral Pavilion; discover Filipino American art at the Art Phair pop up gallery, learn about Filipino history at Senior Pavilion panels, hear author talks, and experience cultural performances while savoring Filipino food at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro on September 14!
Specters on Glass: Studio Portraiture in Early 20th c. Placerville +
Arts and Culture El Dorado, Placerville
Project Director: Marya Osucha
A public presentation complementing a new exhibition, Specters on Glass: Studio Portraiture in early 20th Century Placerville, featuring El Dorado County Archivist and Historian, Mary Cory, and Exhibition Curator, Marya Osucha, will examine the role of portrait photography in defining and presenting the modern “Self” and the way in which this collection of images enables a more complex and nuanced understanding of historic Placerville. This free event will take place on Thursday, September 26, 2024 from 6 to 8 pm at the Switchboard Gallery, 525 Main Street in Placerville.
From There To Here: Military and Veteran Expressions +
Mil-Tree Veteran Project, Joshua Tree
Project Director: Cheryl Montelle
Mil-tree Veteran Project, a high-desert veteran-serving nonprofit organization, is partnering with the 29 Palms Visitor Center to hold an exhibit of two- and three-dimension art made by local veterans from October 1 through December 31, 2024. Focusing on the experience of military service, the meaning of service to individuals and society, and the challenges of reintegration following military service, this project will be of special interest in this community, which is home to a USMC military base. A panel discussion and a spoken word presentation will provide additional opportunities for engagement by veterans, active service members, and the broader public.
Family History Day at the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History
Carpinteria Valley Historical Society, Carpinteria
Project Director: Jayme Yahr
The Carpinteria Valley Museum of History will host a free Family History Day on Saturday, November 9, to strengthen community connections to the past and encourage families to be Carpinteria history keepers of the present and future. The first such event in decades, the museum will engage local residents, including students and their families, using a hands-on and humanities-based approach that will provide free-choice, intergenerational learning supported by English and Spanish-speaking volunteers. Fourteen interactive stations will offer engaging and entertaining activities, ranging from using a vintage apple press, making rope, and completing then/now timelines, puzzles, and games, to experiencing a one-room schoolhouse, testing stereoviewers, and operating cameras from past eras.
Music of Ghosts, Masks of Endurance: Community Storytelling – A dialogue of the fusion of story, history and music +
West of West Center for Narrative History of the Central Valley Inc, Fresno
Project Director: Mas Masumoto
A community’s sense of history and place will be explored through performances fusing stories and music. Chronicling a family saga that captures the stories of four generations of Japanese American women laboring to be accepted and belong authored by one of California’s great contemporary writers, the project will explore many questions related to identity: Can an immigrant family tale of planting roots in California be captured in a song of resilience? What’s the balance of harmony and discord in the experience of generations struggling for acceptance and belonging in America? A series of community discussions in late 2024 will also probe how music can increase understanding of and empathy for the experiences of families working the land in the San Joaquin Valley.
¡Hay Cine! CHICANX SHORT FILMS from L.A to the Desert – a program of ¡Hay Festival! +
Latina Dance Project, Joshua Tree
Project Director: Christy Addis-Gutierrez
A screening and discussion series during ¡Hay Festival!, a month-long celebration of Latinx culture in California’s Mojave Desert, will be held at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center on November 3rd and 13th. Showcasing short films by contemporary Chicanx filmmakers that that explore subjects ranging from the Chicano Civil Rights Movement to a fantastical tale of Luchadores in the desert, screenings will be followed by panel discussions with the filmmakers, creative members of the production teams, and film subjects. Admission is free.
Rooted: Creating equitable access to green space for Black Angelenos through conversation, art and poetry +
SIMA Studios, West Hollywood
Gray Bayne Film and Media LLC
Project Director: Elizabeth Bayne
In partnership with LA County Department of Parks and Recreation and Nature Nexus Institute, this three-part series offers community discussions, oral history recording, digital mapping, interpretive art-making, nature walks, and an exhibition of completed artwork. Designed to increase park access for low-income Black families, discussions will encourage participants to reflect on their relationship to nature and gain understanding into how environmental racism has limited opportunities to engage with the natural world. Facilitator-led community discussions, followed by workshops led by art, poetry and wellness experts, will take place during summer and fall 2024 at various locations in Los Angeles.
AGANU’U Cultural Teach In Series *
Samoan Solutions, Burlingame
Project Director: Talavou Aumavae
A series of seven programs taking place during fall 2024 and winter 2025 will provide opportunities for San Francisco Bay Area residents and social service providers to explore Pasifika cultural practices and wisdom. Led by cultural practitioners, the monthly sessions will deepen participants’ understanding of how these traditions play an important role in supporting the development of individual identity and mental health. Each will begin with a presentation about a particular practice or tradition, its origins, and social functions. Small group discussions and whole group conversations will enable participants to explore how the knowledge and insights they have acquired can be incorporated into their work and everyday life.
Reign of Revolution: The Haus of St. James Experience +
Lambda Archives of San Diego, San Diego
Project Director: Dana Wiegand
Set to launch in October 2024, this multidimensional arts and humanities project will explore the history of drag culture and activism through the lens of one of San Diego’s most prominent drag houses—the Haus of St. James. Using photos, artifacts, clips from oral history recordings, and a live performance from drag mother, Amber St. James, the project will bring attention to the little-known story of the Haus of St. James to a broader audience through a dynamic exhibit that highlights drag as art, activism, and a core segment of San Diego’s LGBTQ+ community.
The Door of Return +
Redtone Records, East Palo Alto
Project Director: Tiffani Marie
A transformative theatrical experience that celebrates the rich history and resilience of the Black diaspora through music, dance, storytelling, and drumming, this project reimagines the painful legacy of the Door of No Return into a powerful symbol of healing. Taking place in Oakland from October to December 2024, a series of four act performances will explore themes from ancestral roots to liberation and reclamation. Following the performances, audiences will be engaged in interactive sessions, deepening the communal journey of remembrance, struggle, and healing, and fostering a profound connection with the heritage and future of the Black diaspora.
California Humanities, a statewide nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, promotes the humanities—focused on ideas, conversation, and learning—as relevant, meaningful ways to understand the human condition and connect people to each other in order to help strengthen California. California Humanities has provided grants and programs across the state since 1975. To learn more, visit calhum.org, or like and follow on Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
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