Articles
This summer, Humanities Texas awarded over $1.1 million in Relief Grants to 198 Texas cultural and educational nonprofits affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Relief Grant recipients include museums, libraries, preservation organizations, and heritage and cultural centers, among many others. These organizations administer humanities programs that have significant impact within their communities and demonstrated immediate need as a result of the pandemic.
"This is a time of widespread hurt for the many cultural organizations in our state that provide beauty, insight, and inspiration in both good times and bad," said Chase Untermeyer of Houston, chair of the Humanities Texas board of directors. "Their need is much larger than the funds we had to disburse, but we are glad to help at least some in greatest difficulty."
Relief Grant recipients are located in 96 towns and cities across the state. Small and rural organizations were strongly encouraged to apply. Of the recipients, half have annual budgets of less than $300,000. Nearly a third of the grants went to organizations in communities of 20,000 people or fewer. A complete list of recipients is available for download.
The objective of the Relief Grants is to help Texas cultural and educational organizations remain vital to their communities in this difficult time. Grants cover both operating and programming expenses, enabling recipients to pay overhead costs, retain staff, shift in-person programming to online, and make resources available to those who depend on them for education and connection.
"We are fortunate to have the opportunity to provide critical support to so many organizations across the state," said Humanities Texas Executive Director Eric Lupfer. "We will continue to seek ways to assist Texas cultural and educational institutions in surviving this crisis."
Funding for these grants is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law on March 27, 2020.