Mini-grants for Humanities Projects

Mini-grants for Humanities Projects is sponsored by West Virginia Humanities Council. Provides grant funding to nonprofit organizations and institutions supporting educational humanities programming across West Virginia. Eligible projects include lectures, small museum exhibits, educational events, and planning for larger projects.

About Our Grants | West Virginia Humanities Council. Harpers Ferry National Park WV Department of Commerce The humanities represent a group of academic disciplines that have traditionally been concerned with values, ideas and choices. The humanities provide a framework for analyzing the human condition – for making sense of our roles in contemporary society.

The term humanities includes the following: Language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, theory and criticism of the arts; those aspects of social sciences that have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to our diverse heritage, traditions and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current condition of national life.

Grant Categories, Applications and Deadlines Before completing a grant application, applicants must review the general grant guidelines and How to Apply information. Minigrants | DUE August 1, 2026 $2,000 maximum, support small projects, single events, lectures, small museum exhibits, brochures, consultation needs, and planning for more complex projects.

Applicants should allow six weeks between the deadline and the start of the project. Minigrants have supported projects including workshops by West Virginia authors at Daniels Elementary School in Raleigh County, permanent exhibits at the Entler Hotel museum in Shepherdstown, and a Wayne County quilt trail.

Apply Now (or view printable application for reference) $20,000 maximum, support major humanities projects including, but not limited to, lectures, school projects, symposiums, panel discussions, reading and discussion series, exhibits, reenactments, and conferences. Applicants should allow twelve weeks between the deadline and the start of the project.

Major grants have funded humanities programming at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, a permanent exhibit at the Weston State Hospital, archeology digs in Wood and Greenbrier counties, the Ohio River Festival of Books, and wayside exhibits at historic locations along the Kanawha Valley Rivers to Ridges Trail.

Apply Now (or view printable application for reference) The $3,000 grants are unique in the Mountain State. Apply Now (or view printable application for reference) Media grants have supported the award-winning interactive documentary Hollow , the Burning Springs documentary about West Virginia’s oil and gas industry, and the Traveling 219 website. Apply now , or view printable application .

Publication Grants | PAUSED A publication grant supported the book New Deal: Photographs of West Virginia 1934 – 1943 . Apply now , or view printable application . Teacher Institutes | PAUSED Recently funded teacher institutes focused on writing and an exploration of music and cultures from around the world.

Other teacher institutes have taken teachers to Japan, India, and England. Apply now , or view printable application . Travel Assistance Grants | PAUSED Travel Assistance grants supported travel to conferences and meetings of the Appalachian Studies Association, International Thespian Festival, and the Shakespeare Association.

Apply now (or view printable application for reference) The grants administrator reviews the applications for completeness and compliance with the Council’s grant guidelines before distribution to the Program Committee. The Program Committee makes funding decisions for Minigrants.

The Program Committee makes recommendations to the Board of Directors for Major grants, Fellowships, Media grants, Publication grants, and Teacher Institute grants. Travel Assistance Program grants are decided by Council staff. The Council contacts the authorizing official of the sponsoring organization regarding approval or refusal of a grant award.

Allow at least two weeks from the date of application to receive notification regarding Travel Assistance grants, six weeks for Minigrants, and twelve weeks for all other grants. Grantees are responsible for submitting contract documents, progress and final reports to receive grant payments (minigrants do not require progress reports). Receiving a Humanities Council grant does not guarantee that the project will be funded again.

Each proposal is reviewed on its own merit within the grant cycle in which it is received. The Program Committee is made up of Humanities Council board members and citizen members. If you or someone you know is interested in joining the Program Committee as a citizen member click here to complete the nomination form .

For information contact Erin Riebe, Grants Administrator at 304-346-8500. If you're looking for information about Folklife Apprenticeships or Legends & Lore roadside markers, visit the Folklife Program page Read through the General Grant Guidelines before submitting your proposal.

Learn more about how to apply » Learn how to manage your grant here » Get your West Virginia Encyclopedia and DVD in our Online Store » e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia » Our Historic House » West Virginia Humanities Council 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E, Charleston, West Virginia 25301 304-346-8500 (T) | 304-346-8504 (F)