National Museum of the American Indian Grants Programs

The National Museum of the American Indian's Indigenous Contemporary Arts Program offers support to a wide range of arts activities with the goal of increasing the knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of contemporary Native American arts. The NMAI considers the recognition of living artists of the Western Hemisphere and Hawaii to be of primary importance and will give awards to projects that strengthen the scholarship in this underserved field and create opportunities for new and innovative work.

Amount: $7,500 - $15,000

Date due: January 11, 2010

NMAI's Exhibitions and Publications program awards grants of $7,500 to $15,000 to support exhibitions, installations, publications, and critical writing that interpret and present the work of contemporary Native visual artists to the public and encourage dialogue and critical commentary. At least one-half of the proposed project team (artists, authors, curators, etc.) must be Native American or Native Hawaiian.

NMAI's Expressive Arts program awards grants of up to $10,000 to support the creation and presentation of new works through the collaboration of two or more Native artists. Awards will specifically support the creation of new works for public performance that may include, but is not limited to, music, dance, spoken word, electronic media, costume design, mask making, set design, performance art, photography, painting, and other forms of expressive culture. The award is open to all indigenous peoples who hold citizenship in the Americas.

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Black Metropolis Research Consortium Short-term Fellowship

The Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) is an unincorporated Chicago-based association of libraries, universities, and other archival institutions. Its mission is to make broadly accessible its members' holdings of materials that document African-American and African diasporic culture, history, and politics, with a specific focus on materials relating to Chicago. With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the BMRC short-term fellowship program in African-American studies supports scholars, professional artists, and writers who wish to conduct research in BMRC member institutions' collections relating to African-American and African diasporic culture, history, and politics. The Fellowship is to conduct research in Chicago.

Amount: $3,000 per month for one or two months

Date due: January 11, 2010

The fellowship period is for one or two months during the summer of 2010. Fellows will receive a stipend of $3,000 per month to conduct research in Chicago. Qualified scholars, composers, media artists, musicians, visual artists, and writers are encouraged to apply. Applicants must demonstrate a need for the collections of at least one BMRC institution, with preference given to applicants whose research will take them to at least one other member institution as well. These BMRC collections should be vital to the applicant's research.

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Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Institutional Grants Program

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences funds the Institutional Grants Program to assist in fostering educational activities between the public and the film industry while encouraging the appreciation of motion pictures as both an art form and a vocation.

Amount: Varies

Date due: January 15, 2010

Eligible programs include but are not limited to craft workshops and conferences in which college students and/or adults are trained in one or more of the various craft fields of film production (directing, cinematography, screenwriting, editing, etc.); library and archival projects in which the papers of filmmakers are preserved and/or made available to the public;screening programs, especially those in which filmmakers interact with audiences; seminar programs, in which film professionals discuss their work and/or particular aspects of the creation and distribution of films; teacher training programs, in which production techniques and/or film appreciation information is presented for teachers to take back to their classrooms; and visiting artist programs, especially those in which a filmmaker spends several days in residence at a college, university or media center.

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Interpreting America's Historic Places: Planning Grants

Interpreting America’s Historic Places grants support public humanities projects that exploit the evocative power of historic places to explore stories, ideas, and beliefs that deepen our understanding of our lives and our world. The Division of Public Programs supports the development of humanities content and interactivity that excite, inform, and stir thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity, and history in creative and new ways. Interpreting America’s Historic Places projects may interpret a single historic site or house, a series of sites, an entire neighborhood, a town or community, or a larger geographical region. Grants for Interpreting America’s Historic Places should encourage dialogue, discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. To that end, the Division of Public Programs urges applicants to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public.

Amount: $40,000 - $75,000

Date due: January 13, 2010

Planning grants are available for those projects that may need further development before applying for implementation. This planning can include the identification and refinement of the project’s main humanities ideas and questions, consultation with scholars in order to strengthen the humanities content, preliminary audience evaluation, preliminary design of the proposed interpretive formats, beta testing of digital formats, development of complementary programming, research at archives or sites whose resources might be used, or the drafting of interpretive materials.

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NEH Challenge Grants in U.S. History and Culture

NEH invites applications for Challenge Grants in United States History and Culture. This grant opportunity is designed to help institutions and organizations strengthen their ability to explore significant themes and events in American history, so as to advance our understanding of how—since the nation’s founding—these events have shaped and been shaped by American identity and culture.

Amount: Varies, requires matching funds

Date due: February 3, 2010

NEH seeks to support a range of approaches to the American experience: for example, approaches might explore significant events in America’s history, its democratic institutions, the political principles on which the nation is founded, or the complicated mix of peoples and cultures that have formed America. Also welcome are proposals that seek support for the study of the history and culture of the United States in international contexts rather than in isolation—proposals that explore relationships with other nations and cultures that have profoundly affected the course of United States history. NEH also welcomes proposals for programming at America’s historic places (e.g., historic sites, neighborhoods, communities, or larger geographical regions).

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Grants for America's Media Makers -- Production Grants

Grants for America’s Media Makers support projects in the humanities that explore stories, ideas, and beliefs that deepen our understanding of our lives and our world. The Division of Public Programs supports the development of humanities content and interactivity that excite, inform, and stir thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity, and history in creative and new ways. Grants for America’s Media Makers should encourage dialogue, discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. To that end, the Division of Public Programs urges applicants to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public.

Amount: $40,000 - $75,000

Date due: January 13, 2010

Production grants support the preparation of a program for distribution. Applicants must submit a script for a radio or television program, or a prototype or storyboard for a digital media project, that demonstrates a solid command of the humanities ideas and scholarship related to a subject. NEH also supports Chairman’s Special Award projects. These projects are more complex and would be of compelling interest to the general public; they have the capacity to examine important humanities ideas in new ways and promise to reach large audiences. These goals can often be accomplished through combining a variety of program formats, forming creative collaborations among diverse institutions, and expanding the scope and reach of a project. The Chairman’s Special Award projects. These projects are more complex and would be of compelling interest to the general public; they have the capacity to examine important humanities ideas in new ways and promise to reach large audiences. These goals can often be accomplished through combining a variety of program formats, forming creative collaborations among diverse institutions, and expanding the scope and reach of a project.

For more information, click here.

Grants for America's Media Makers -- Development Grants

Grants for America’s Media Makers support projects in the humanities that explore stories, ideas, and beliefs that deepen our understanding of our lives and our world. The Division of Public Programs supports the development of humanities content and interactivity that excite, inform, and stir thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity, and history in creative and new ways. Grants for America’s Media Makers should encourage dialogue, discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. To that end, the Division of Public Programs urges applicants to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public.

Amount: $40,000 - $75,000

Date due: January 13, 2010

Development grants enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and format and to prepare programs for production. These grants cover a wide range of activities that include, but are not limited to, meetings and individual consultations with scholars, research, preliminary interviews, preparation of program scripts, designs for interactivity and digital distribution, and the creation of partnerships for outreach activities and public engagement with the humanities. Development grants should culminate in the refinement of a project’s humanities ideas, a script, or a design document for (or a prototype of) digital media components or projects. Before applying, applicants must have a solid command of the major humanities scholarship on their subject, have clarified the ideas that the project will consider, and have consulted with a team of scholarly advisers to work out the intellectual issues that the program will explore. Applicants must also have made preliminary decisions about the format and storyline and located essential materials for the program(s). Finally, they must have recruited the appropriate media professionals, especially the producer, writer, or interactive designer.

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