Humanities Nebraska Awards Nearly $309,000 in Pandemic Relief Grants
Humanities Nebraska recently provided an additional $308,956 in relieft grants to 74 humanities organizations across Nebraska, each of which continues to battle the challenges of the novel cornavirus pandemic. This funding was made possible by a special distribution to HN from the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, which in turn was matched by an anonymous funder.
As a demonstration of the continuing financial struggles of cultural institutions serving local communities during the pandemic, more than $650,000 in support was requested during the two week application window.
“Humanities Nebraska is grateful to our partners at the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, who recognized the continuing operational challenges facing cultural nonprofits who have endured prolonged closures, reduced revenues, and other factors due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated HN executive director Chris Sommerich. “This support, along with the generous match from a funder who wishes to remain anonymous, is enabling these local groups to retain staff, pay bills and provide programming as we all find our way forward.”
“The Nebraska Cultural Endowment board of directors met in a special session to determine how best to support the sustainability of the cultural sector, in light of the pandemic’s continued impact,” added NCE executive director Kyle Cartwright. “They were unanimous in their desire to support Nebraska’s humanities organizations in sustaining operations.”
The NCE board approved a similar distribution to the Nebraska Arts Council to support Nebraska’s arts organizations.
Below is the entire list of organizations awarded new grants, and the award amounts:
African Culture Connection, $5,000
American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, $2,500
Antelope County Historic Society, $3,500
Asian Community and Cultural Center, $3,000
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, $5,000
Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation, $2,093
Blixt Locally Grown, $2,500
Bluebarn Theater, $5,000
Bluebird Cultural Initiative, $3,500
Bright Lights, $3,750
Brownville Fine Arts Association, $1,000
Brownville Historical Society, $5,000
Buffalo County Historical Society, $7,500
Crane River Theater Company, $5,000
Creighton University, $2,500
Custer County Historical Society, $2,500
Douglas County Historical Society, $5,000
El Museo Latino, $6.500
Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, $2,500
Flatwater Shakespeare Company, $4,000
Fontenelle Forest, $2,500
Fort Atkinson Foundation, $1,000
Fremont Area Art Association, $1,000
Friends of the Homestead, $7,500
Friends of the International Quilt Study Center, $5,000
Friends of the Midwest Theater, $7,500
Front Street Cowboy Museum, $6,000
Gage County Historical Society, $7,500
Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation, $2,400
Golden Spike Tower, $5,000
Great Plains Black History Museum, $5,000
Great Plains Theatre Conference, $5,000
Great Plains Welsch Heritage Centre, $750
Hall County Historical Society, $3,000
Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History, $4,640
Historical Bryant House, $5,000
Historical Society of Ravenna, $1,500
History Nebraska, $7,500
John G. Neihardt Foundation, $7,500
Johnson County Nebraska Historical Society, $3,000
Joslyn Art Museum, $4,000
Kearney Area Children’s Museum, $1,000
Kregel Windmill Factory Museum, $7,500
Legacy of the Plains, $7,500
Lincoln Children’s Museum, $1,000
Lincoln County Historical Society, $4,600
Malone Center, $5,000
Mildred D. Brown Memorial Study Center, $7,500
MRB Lewis & Clark Visitors Center, $5,000
Nebraska Indian Education Association, $7,500
Nebraska Wesleyan University, $5,232
Nebraska Writers Collective, $3,218
Norfolk Arts Center, $5,000
Nuckolls County Historical Society, $5,623
Omaha Children’s Museum, $1,000
Omaha Community Playhouse, $2,500
Omaha Girls Rock, $2,000
Omaha Symphony, $2,500
Pierce Historical Society, $2,400
Plainsman Museum, $5,000
Platte Valley Literacy Association, $2,500
Prairie Arts Center, $2,500
Rablle Mill, $4,000
Robert Henri Museum and Historical Walkway, $4,000
Robert M. Merry Man Performing Arts Center, $3,750
Sheldon Art Association, $4,000
Strategic Air and Space Museum, $5,000
Stuhr Museum Foundation, $7,500
Table Rock Historical Society, $2,500
The Durham Museum, $7,500
UNION for Contemporary Art, $6,500
University of Nebraska State Museum, $2,509
Weeping Water Valley Histroical Society, $1,000
Wessels Living Historical Farm, $5,000