Cal Humanities

"The understanding of a culture comes from hearing the language, tasting the food, seeing personal interactions, experiencing the traditions, and so much more in context."

— Elizabeth Laval & Candice Pendergrass, Sikh Youth Public History Project

"The understanding of a culture comes from hearing the language, tasting the food, seeing personal interactions, experiencing the traditions, and so much more when it is in context."

— Elizabeth Laval & Candice Pendergrass, Sikh Youth Public History Project

CA CARES: Humanities Relief and Recovery Grants Awards

California Humanities is pleased to announce the recipients of our CA CARES Humanities Relief and Recovery Grants, providing much-needed funds to assist the public humanities sector across California during the pandemic. California Humanities was grateful to be able to make these grants through an open and competitive process, thanks to support provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as a result of the CARES Act, and by the State of California through the California State Library.

California Humanities awarded $1,564,616 in CA CARES Humanities Relief and Recovery grants to 252 individuals and nonprofit organizations across California, reaching 45 Congressional districts. Awards ranged from $2,000 to $20,000. We received 1,270 applications for these grants, requesting almost $14 million in funding.

Relief grants provide general operating support, through the NEH, to help organizations and practitioners continue their public humanities efforts. Individuals received 150 grants totaling $300,000, and 77 organizations received $1,053,361 in grant support.

Recovery grants provide capacity-building funds, through the California State Library, to assist organizations as they consider new approaches to public humanities programming and organizational strength. We awarded $211,255 to 25 organizations.

In keeping with California Humanities’ mission to connect Californians to ideas and one another in order to understand our shared heritage and diverse cultures, inspire civic participation, and shape our future, the CA CARES grants support public humanities organizations that have experienced a decrease or loss of revenue, programming opportunities, loss of paid staff, or venues as a result of COVID-19, as well as to humanities practitioners who have been facing financial hardship.

CA CARES Humanities Relief and Recovery Grantees:

1947 Partition Archive
Alliance for California Traditional Arts
API Cultural Center Inc
Arab Film and Media Institute
Arhoolie Foundation
Bay Area Creative
Bay Area Video Coalition Inc
Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology
Bishop Mural Society / Eastern Sierra Artists
Black Voice Foundation
Calexico Arts Council
California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project
California Historical Society
California Institute for Community Art & Nature
Camptonville Community Center Advocates
Catalina Island Museum
Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco
Chinese Historical Society of Southern California Inc
Citizen Film Inc
Community Literature Initiative
Crocker Art Museum Association
Eagle Rock Community Cultural Association
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
El Teatro Campesino
Foundation for the Future of Literature and Literacy
Fred T Korematsu Institute
Friends of the Oakland Public Library
Go For Broke National Education Center
Harry Bridges Project
Hayward Area Historical Society
Historical Society of Long Beach
International House Davis
Japanese American National Museum
Jewish Film Institute
Justice for My Sister
Korean Community Center of the East Bay
LA Commons
LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes Foundation
Leonis Adobe Association
Litquake Foundation
Little Manila Foundation
Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust
Los Angeles Poverty Department
Los Angeles Review of Books
Marin Museum Society Inc
Maritime Museum Association of San Diego
Media Arts Center San Diego
Mindful Warrior Project
Museum of African American Art
Museum of Latin American Art
Museum of Teaching and Learning
Museum of the African Diaspora
Museum of Ventura County
Museums of Sonoma County
Muzeo Foundation
National Japanese American Historical Society Inc
Nevada County Community Library System
Oceanside Museum of Art
Outside the Lens
Pajaro Valley Arts Council
Palm Springs Cultural Center
Philippine National Day Association
Plaza de la Raza Inc
Purple Silk Music Education Foundation Inc
Radio Bilingüe Inc
Rancho Los Alamitos Foundation
Rancho Los Cerritos Foundation
Re-Present Media
Riverside Art Museum
Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District
Riverside Public Library System
San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum
San Diego Chinese Historical Society and Museum
San Diego History Center
San Diego Public Library, Central Library
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
San Leandro History Museum
San Luis Rey Mission Indian Foundation
Santa Barbara Historical Museum
Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation
Shaping San Francisco
Shasta Library Foundation
Skirball Cultural Center
Society Of California Pioneers
Southern California Public Radio
TeAda Productions
The African American Art and Culture Complex
The Kitchen Sisters Productions
The Museum of Art and History at the McPherson Center
The Townies Inc
Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians
Tenderloin Museum
Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum
Visual Communications
Voice of Witness
Voices of the Golden Ghosts
Women’s History Reclamation Project Inc

We are grateful to our Members of Congress and our California State Legislators for recognizing the critical importance of the public humanities alongside pressing global issues.