Humanities Seek Public Input in Effort to Expand Access Throughout State

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As Connecticut's only statewide organization “focused broadly on supporting access to and providing funding for public humanities,” Connecticut Humanities, in its 2020-2023 Strategic Plan, laid out a multi-pronged  aspiration “to strengthen our communities and society in the long term to ensure:

  • Strong, viable, sustainable history and heritage organizations that play pivotal roles in promoting the educational, cultural, and economic vitality of Connecticut;

  • Humanities programming that is widely accessible to diverse and new audiences, young and old, who will see themselves reflected and respected in the state’s heritage and history;

  • Citizens who appreciate and seek out the enriching and even “humanizing” value of engagement with the humanities in their everyday lives, and

  • Citizens who are aware of the distinctive history and heritage of Connecticut and who understand why and how our past informs our present and future.

And then came the pandemic.

While priorities adapted to the rapidly changing realities, federal and state funds arrived in response to institutions and organizations that had to hit pause, saw audience or visitor numbers drop precipitously, or had to cancel or indefinitely postpone programs and long-scheduled initiatives.

During FY21, CT Humanities awarded $2,190,154 through 150 grants to cultural nonprofits.  That represents a 91.7% increase from FY20 and includes 31 first-time grantees during the year – and a indispensable lifeline for many of the institutions.  The largest number of grants were in Hartford County, with 59, followed by Fairfield County with 32, New Haven County with 21 and New London County with 20. 

Connecticut Humanities (CTH) is an independent, non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships, and collaborative programs, striving to “make a difference not only for the organizations we serve and support directly but also, through and with those organizations, in the life of every citizen of Connecticut.”

During a virtual Public Comment Session celebrating the successes of the previous fiscal year, with a greater focus on accessibility and equity, and looking forward to what is to come, more than 70 participants registered for a public comment session last week that was led by CTH Board of Directors Chairman Lewis Wallace and Jason Mancini, executive director at CTH.  CTH plans additional comment sessions in the future.

Among the highlights, officials noted that CTH is working closely with the Connecticut Office of the Arts to support the cultural sector through grantmaking in a collaborative relationship that has grown stronger during the past year.

Over the next two years, “CTH will invest $30.7 million in the health and vitality” of Connecticut communities, with funds provided by the Governor and state legislature, which Mancini described in the 2021 Annual Report as “a transformational opportunity for the state to open doors closed to so many.”

During the comment session, Liz Shapiro, Director of Arts Preservation and Museums in the Connecticut Office of the Arts, highlighted the “deeply held set of shared values” between CTH and the state office, and a partnership that “has grown…and is making change happen.”   She added that “humanities and the arts are part of the whole,” and “our voices are strong when we are collaborating.”  Regarding the need for systemic change, particularly in the area of diversity, she noted that “we’re in it for the long haul,” and said that while the work won’t be done in a year, by working together the efforts will ultimately succeed, “dismantling systems that are unacceptable to our core values.”

 

Links to CTH's FY2021 Annual Report and Strategic Plan for 2020-2023 ; and a recording of the Public Comment Session .