New Grant Recipients

Congratulations to our recent awardees

Click here to read more about MHC's Grants Program.

MAJOR GRANT AWARDS, Fall 2011

Center Stage Associates
“The Whipping Man” Community Engagement
Civic Engagement Category
Baltimore City
Award - $7,900
In spring 2012, CENTERSTAGE will present contemporary playwright Matthew Lopez’ "The Whipping Man."  Set in the post-Civil War era, this historical drama probes themes of racial, cultural, and religious identity and explores definitions of freedom and justice.  A variety of community engagement events will support the production.  All programming will be designed to foster constructive dialogue framed by the struggles and successes that link Maryland’s Jewish and African American communities.  

Harford County Public Library
Journey Stories Project
Harford County
Open Grant Category
Award - $5,000
Harford County Library is one of five sites selected to partner with MHC to present Journey Stories, our latest Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian.  Dozens of programs will take place over a 3-month period in six library locations and on-line.  Exhibits expressing how various cultures came to America, merged with exhibits depicting local versions of those stories will inform the programs.

Walters Art Museum
Our History/Whose History? The African Presence in Renaissance Europe
Baltimore City
Civic Engagement Category
$9,000
The Walters Art Museum will present three inter-related public programs for a range of audiences during its special exhibition, "Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe."  At first event, a public forum, noted scholars will explore the experience and societal contributions of Africans in Renaissance Europe.  Moderator Farai Chideya will facilitate the community audience in a discussion with the speakers.  “Othello Today" will be a public conversation on the subject of blacks and blackness in Shakespeare's play.  The third program is a competition for Maryland students in grades 6-12 wherein participants will submit their essays, poems, or visual or performance art which they create in response to works of art in the exhibition.  Student works will be displayed in the exhibition and on the Walters website.  The overall goals are to extend public dialogue on the relationship of cultural and racial identity and expand the perception of shared heritage.

Clarice Smith Performance Arts Center
Fortune’s Bones:  The Manumission Requiem
Prince George’s County
Civic Engagement Category
Award - $9,000
Fortune was a slave in 18th century Connecticut.  When he died, his owner, a physician, dissected and preserved the skeleton so that its anatomy could be studied and used for teaching purposes.  A eulogy honoring Fortune was composed by a former Connecticut poet laureate, and later developed into a full length cantata for orchestra chorus, African drumming ensemble, and vocals and will be performed in conjunction with an extended series of community-wide programming that will encourage participants to discuss the ethics around cases like Fortune’s and others.

Maryland Historical Society
The Civil War and Divided Voices:  Reaching Out Through the Humanities
Baltimore City
Open Grant Category
Award - $9,000
Living history actors will travel to six locations in the Baltimore region to present historical events and characters from the Civil War.  The Players will also interpret selected objects from the Historical Society exhibition "Divided Voices: Maryland in the Civil War.” A question and answer discussion will follow each presentation, with conversation about the themes, characters and objects presented, relating the history portrayed to contemporary events.  

OPPORTUNITY GRANT AWARDS, Fall 2011

Ward Museum of Wildfowl / Salisbury University
Maryland Master: Edwin Remsberg’s Portraits of Maryland Traditions
Wicomico County
Award: $1,200

 “Maryland Masters: Edwin Remsberg’s Portraits of Maryland Traditions” is a collection of images that reveal the unique flavor of Maryland and its distinctive community traditions. These traditions have been handed down from generation to generation, from master to apprentice. Maryland photographer Edwin Remsberg has captured these rituals in this series of portraits of men and women performing their individual practices, including some of the state’s oldest living traditions – like foxhunting, Smith Island Cakes, boatbuilding, Native American beadwork, and African-American gospel quartet singing – as well as some of its newest – like Colombian vallenato accordion and South Indian bharathanatyam dance.

University of Baltimore Foundation
West Meets East: Chinese Films and America
Baltimore City
Award - $1,200

West Meets East is a two day educational film forum. The forum features eight Chinese films showcasing the diversity of Chinese culture and filmmaking. There will be panelist-led discussions after each film, led by experts in Chinese film and culture, who can give great insights into the historical, cultural, and artistic significance of each film.

Learn about the Maryland Humanities Council's Grants Program on our GRANTS PROGRAMS and ABOUT MHC GRANTS webpages.  For questions, contact Takia Ross, Grants Assistant, at tross@mdhc.org.