Humanities Iowa – Culture. Community. Connections.

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Humanities Iowa and What We Do

Humanities Iowa (HI) is dedicated to bringing the humanities to life in Iowa, with the people of Iowa. We provide grants, build community partnerships, and create programming that reaches over 250,000 Iowans each year. Our programming and projects reach every corner of the state and range from community roundtables and intergenerational storytelling projects to documentaries, rural archives restoration, the Iowa Poet Laureate program, the statewide Speakers Bureau series, and the journal Voices from the Prairie.

Grants

We support programming through major grants, mini grants, partnerships, as well as our Speakers Bureau.

Partnerships

Council Conducted Partnerships are funding partnerships between Humanities Iowa and eligible non-profit organizations.

Speakers

Our Speakers Bureau has speakers available to come to your event with expertise in a wide variety of humanities fields.

Join Us!

We would love to have you join us and get involved!
By attending our events with your family and friends, nominating yourself or someone you know to serve on the Board of Directors, Speakers Bureau, and spreading the word.
Humanities Iowa is here for Iowa

Board of Directors Staff News Media Resources Job Openings

Grants and Guidelines

We support programming through major grants, mini grants, partnerships, as well as our Speakers Bureau.

The Basics

Who Can Apply

Grants are awarded to not-for-profit organizations that serve the out-of-school Iowan adult public

Learn more

Frequently Asked Questions

We will work with you to strengthen the application and answer questions.

Read the FAQ

Apply for a Grant

Access our online application process

Apply for a Grant

Recent Mini-Grant Awards

Mini grants are awarded on a continual basis throughout the year.

The following mini grants were awarded for the 2022-2023 financial year:

The Details

Conditions of Grant Awards

Responsibilities you will be required to accept if you are awarded a grant from Humanities Iowa.

Learn More

Special Guidelines: Media Projects

Humanities Iowa recognizes that media projects can serve as a powerful tool for fulfilling our mission to foster greater public awareness of and appreciation for the value of the humanities

Learn More

Grants Administration

PDFs of guidelines and PDFs of forms for administering your grant from Humanities Iowa.

Get Documents

Special Guidelines: Teacher Seminars

Humanities Iowa will consider proposals from colleges, universities, area education agencies and school systems for planning and conducting seminars in the humanities for elementary, secondary and post-secondary teachers.

Learn More

Recent Major Grant Awards

Title of Project
AViD

Sponsoring Organization
Des Moines Pu blic Library

Des Moines

Grant
$5,000

Project Description
AViD (Authors Visiting in Des Moines) is a highly respected state-wide cultural program. Each year, authors with national and international reputations are brought to Des Moines to speak about their writing. Authors are selected from a diverse array of genres and chosen to appeal to a broad adult audience, stimulate critical thinking, deepen understanding, and develop a greater appreciation of the human condition and the written word. AViD transports audiences into the works of authors and engages and inspires them through discussions. Author selection emphasizes ethnicity, diversity, and identity.

Recent Major Grant Awards

Title of Project
Juneteenth Celebration

Sponsoring Organization

Ankeny Community Network

Ankeny

Grant
$10,000

Project Description

The Ankeny Community Network (ACN) Juneteenth festival is Saturday, June 17 from 4-10 pm. at the District at Prairie Trail in Ankeny. Juneteenth is a celebration of American history. It marks the day when federal troops arrived in Texas to free all enslaved people, two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, we celebrate Juneteenth by not only continuing to fight racism, but also by highlighting Black culture.

Recent Major Grant Awards

Title of Project

Transform Any Room

Sponsoring Organization
Edmundson Art Foundation

Des Moines

Grant
$5,000

Project Description

“Transform Any Room”, on display October 7, 2023 – January 14, 2024, will be a group exhibition featuring subversive, politicized, and sometimes glamorized versions of the textiles and objects we bring into our homes. Exhibition programming includes a lecture, Iowa-based artist panel, gallery talks, and an Art and Activism workshop with teens hosted by artist Max Colby. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog with an essay by the curator and interviews with several of the artists.

Recent Major Grant Awards

Title of Project
Global Connections Across Iowa

Sponsoring Organization
Iowa City Foreign Relations Council

Iowa City

Grant
$5,000

Project Description

Glocal Connections Across Iowa is focused on centering the voices of traditional and non-traditional experts in Iowa from September 2023 to May 2024. The project’s aim is to harness a growing spirit of “globalism” across Iowa by connecting diverse international speakers with local audiences to create community around pressing “glocal” issues and develop more informed, thoughtful, and empathetic citizens newly inspired to create positive social change. The project will consist of six free educational programs featuring students, scholars, and artists to discuss issues that affect daily life in communities around the world. The educational programs will be livestreamed and will be available online after their airing; and a final project report will be widely disseminated.

Recent Major Grant Awards

Title of Project
Educating and Celebrating…

Sponsoring Organization
Mississippi Valley Blues Society

Rock Island

Grant
$5,000

Project Description

This project hires Pixouls of Rock Island, a digital marketing and communication company, to create an interactive, engaging, and informational physical and digital exhibition to honor the 40 Blues artist who have received the Blues Society’s River Road Award to display at MLK Park and other venues. MLK Park honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and serves as the nexus for Black excellence and resilience in the community; this project provides educational materials to share Black music history with visitors.