MHC Awards $460,000 in CARES Emergency Grants

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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