The Mississippi Humanities Council has awarded 46 CARES Emergency Grants, totaling $460,000, to help support Mississippi cultural organizations affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
“We are very pleased to be able to direct these federal emergency funds to help the institutions that preserve and document Mississippi’s unique cultural heritage while enriching the quality of life in our communities,” said Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the MHC.
With funding from Congress through the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the federal CARES Act, the MHC offered emergency grants of up to $20,000 to qualifying cultural organizations. Applications were received on a rolling basis starting April 15 and were reviewed weekly by a special committee made up of the MHC board chair, executive director, and the head of the council’s grant review committee.
The emergency review committee awarded grants to a wide array of organizations across the state, from large museums like the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson and the GRAMMY Museum in Cleveland, to small all-volunteer historical societies in Gulfport and Durant. The MHC was also able to support several small local arts organizations that did not qualify for CARES funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission or the National Endowment for the Arts. In all, MHC’s CARES grants supported organizations in 25 different cities and towns.
The MHC’s priority was to support staff and other operational costs for these organizations that have been forced to close to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our goal was to use these federal relief funds to bolster employment in our state’s cultural economy while helping these organizations ‘keep the lights on’ during this time of unprecedented challenges,” said Sharman Bridges Smith, MHC chair.
The Mississippi Humanities Council is a private non-profit organization funded by Congress through the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide and support public programs exploring our rich history and culture.
CARES Emergency Grants Awarded:
Alice Moseley Folk Art Museum (Bay St. Louis) – $2575
Bay St. Louis Little Theater – $2400
Biloxi Little Theater – $3050
Canton-Madison County Historical Society – $5500
Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation – $4000
Crossroads Museum (Corinth) – $4500
Delta Arts Alliance (Cleveland) – $7601
Delta Blues Museum (Clarksdale) – $12,125
DeSoto County Museum (Hernando) – $5000
DeSoto Family Theater (Southaven) – $3400
Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park – $9600
Grammy Museum Mississippi (Cleveland) – $20,000
Greater Jackson Arts Council – $10,000
Greenville Arts Council – $5000
Greenville Renaissance Scholars – $4730
Gulfport Historical Society – $1000
GumTree Museum of Art (Tupleo) – $5800
Hancock County Historical Society (Bay St. Louis) – $4000
Infinity Science Center (Pearlington) – $10,000
International Museum of Muslim Cultures (Jackson) – $5000
Laurel Little Theater – $4000
Lauren Rogers Museum (Laurel) – $10,000
The Lighthouse/Black Girl Projects (Jackson) – $2500
The Link Centre (Tupelo) – $12,000
Lynn Meadows Discovery Center (Gulfport) – $20,000
Maritime and Seafood Museum (Biloxi) – $20,000
Meridian Restoration Foundation – $10,224
Migration Heritage Foundation (Durant) – $1150
Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience (Meridian) – $20,000
Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum (Gulfport) – $20,000
Mississippi Book Festival (Jackson) – $20,000
Mississippi Children’s Museum (Jackson) – $20,000
Mississippi Cultural Crossroads (Port Gibson) – $4618
Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum (Meridian) – $6548
Mississippi Museum of Art (Jackson) – $20,000
Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (Jackson) – $20,000
Museum of the Mississippi Delta (Greenwood) – $3254
New Stage Theatre (Jackson) – $20,000
Ohr-O’Keefe Museum (Biloxi) – $20,000
Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation (Vicksburg) – $10,000
Southwest Mississippi Multiplex for Early Innovative Intervention Studies (McComb) – $5000
The Arts, Hancock County (Bay St. Louis) – $2500
Tunica County Museum (Tunica) – $10,000
Union County Heritage Museum (New Albany)- $12,620
University Press of Mississippi (Jackson) – $20,000
Walter Anderson Museum of Art (Ocean Springs) – $20,000