HumanitiesDC grant funding supports individuals, groups and organizations that use the humanities to explore the people, cultures, histories, and connections that make DC a vibrant place to be. Cycle I applications are now open, including the Community Culture & Heritage grant, Visions – Projects + Events grants, and two of our DC Oral History Collaborative grants. These applications will be due February 18, 2025, at 5:59 pm. Cycle II grants will open March 4, 2025 and will include the Continuing Oral History Projects grant and the General Operating Support grant.
Scroll to see a list of our grants, applicant support opportunities and more.
Register for our upcoming grant info sessions and workshops
2025 Grant Opportunities
Community Culture &
Heritage GRANT
Supports public preservation of local culture, collective memories, and unfolding stories of DC residents
Amount: $10,000
Applications open December 10, 2024
Due Date: February 18, 2025 at 5:59 pm
Visions – Projects + Events Grant
Supports nonprofit organizations to create public interpretations of humanities scholarship
Amount: $25,000
Applications open December 10, 2024
Due Date: February 18, 2025 at 5:59 pm
DC Oral History Collaborative grants
Supports the collection, archiving, and presentation of oral histories. Three grant opportunities are offered through the DC Oral History Collaborative:
Oral History Interviewing: due Feb 18, 2025
Beyond the Archives: due Feb 18, 2025
Continuing Oral Histories: due May 1, 2025
general operating support grant
Supports the general operations of humanities-focused nonprofits with budgets of under $2 million
Amount: $25,000
Applications open March 4, 2025
Due Date: May 1, 2025 at 5:59 pm
These grant opportunities are supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
APPLICANT SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES
GRANT INFO SESSIONS
These sessions provide an overview of all of our upcoming grant opportunities and general information about our application process and eligibility requirements. These sessions are best for potential applicants who aren’t sure which grant program to apply for and would like information about all our offerings.
Watch a recording of our 2025 Community Grants Info Session with ASL Interpretation.
View the 2025 Community Grants Info Session Slide Deck.
Sunday, January 5, 2025 – 1pm at Anacostia Arts Center in Ward 8 – Register here
Monday, January 13, 2025 – 6pm at the Woodridge Neighborhood Library in Ward 5 – Register here
Wednesday, January 15, 2025 – 6pm at the MLK Public Library Downtown in Ward 2 – Register here
VIRTUAL GRANT APPLICATION WORKSHOPS
These are in-depth sessions delving into a specific grant program’s funding scope, eligibility requirements, application questions, and review criteria. All sessions will be recorded and uploaded to our grants youtube playlist.
Community Culture & Heritage Grant Workshop
Monday, January 13, 2025, 12pm (virtual)
Visions – Projects + Events Grant Workshop
Tuesday, January 14, 2025, 12pm (virtual)
Oral History Interviewing Grant Workshop
Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 12pm (virtual)
Beyond the Archives Grant Workshop
Thursday, January 16, 2025, 12pm (virtual)
VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS
Sign up for a 30-minute Zoom meeting with one of our Community Grants Managers to ask specific questions about our grant programs and to discuss your proposed project
DRAFT APPLICATION REVIEW
Applicants can request that their draft application be reviewed by one of our Community Grants Managers. To request a draft review, complete the application in our grants portal and click “SAVE.” Send an email to grants@humanitiesdc.org with your request for draft review, including any specific questions you wish us to focus on. Staff can provide feedback about the eligibility of your project and the clarity and completeness of your responses. Note that funding decisions are not made by staff. (Learn more about our grant review process.) Please request feedback on your draft application no later than February 13, 2025 at 5:00 pm.
APPLICANT RESOURCES
HumanitiesDC strives to have a transparent process. We encourage all applicants to reference these regularly updated documents before applying for a grant.
Request for Proposals and Application Questions are found on each grant program page.
GRANTS AT A GLANCE
| GRANT PROGRAM | PROGRAM DESCRIPTION | AWARD AMOUNT & ELIGIBILITY |
CYCLE I OPENS: DECEMBER 10, 2024 DUE: FEBRUARY 18, 2025 at 5:59 pm | ||
| COMMUNITY CULTURE & HERITAGE GRANT | Supports the public preservation of local culture, collective memories of longtime Washingtonians, and capturing unfolding stories of newer residents | $10,000 Open to Individuals, Community Groups, & Nonprofits |
| ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWING – DC ORAL HISTORY COLLABORATIVE GRANT | Funding supports oral history projects with training from DCOHC | $8,000 Open to Individuals, Community Groups, & Nonprofit Organizations |
BEYOND THE ARCHIVES – DC ORAL HISTORY COLLABORATIVE GRANT | Funding for public humanities projects that utilize existing oral history collections | $12,000 Open to Individuals, Community Groups, & Nonprofit Organizations |
| VISIONS – PROJECTS + EVENTS | Funding supports public interpretations of humanities scholarship such as feature documentaries, festivals, or archives | $25,000 Open to Nonprofit Organizations (Fiscal Sponsors Permitted) |
CYCLE II OPENS: MARCH 4, 2025 DUE: MAY 1, 2025 at 5:59PM | ||
| GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT | Supports the general operations of humanities non-profits to strengthen the overall humanities landscape in Washington, DC | $25,000 Open to Humanities-focused nonprofits with annual budgets of less than $2 million |
| CONTINUING ORAL HISTORY PROJECTS – DC ORAL HISTORY GRANTS | Funding supports the continuation of oral history projects conducted by recent DCOHC grantees | $8,000 Open to Individuals, Community Groups, & Nonprofit Organizations |
Who We Are Funding
| Organization or Individual Name | Grant Program | Amount Awarded | Project Name | Applicant Location | Project Type | Edited Project Summary |
| 2024 Grantees | ||||||
| 1882 Project Foundation | Beyond the Archives | $12,000.00 | Teaching the history of DC Chinatown for K-12 Learners | Ward 2 | Curriculum | Based on oral history interviews capturing stories that span over 50 years, 1882 Project Foundation will design and implement curricula for K-12 students in DC. The stories shared provide diverse perspectives of living in DC Chinatown, which are most often overlooked. |
| Cleveland & Woodley Park Village | Beyond the Archives | $12,000.00 | The Faces of Aging – Hear Their Stories | Ward 3 | Multimedia presentation and event | In 2023, CWPV completed 7 oral histories of its members, all of whom are older adults, as part of a HumanitiesDC grant. Using information gathered from these oral histories and others, we will create ten large visual displays, featuring one narrator per display with photos past, and present a webpage on the existing CWPV website, and a public exhibit. |
| President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home | Beyond the Archives | $12,000.00 | Cultural Assets Mapping in Petworth DC | Ward 5 | Research/Publication | In Summer 2022, 123 oral histories were collected from Petworth community members, led by a team of eleven student researchers with planning assistance from a Community Advisory Committee made up of local residents and leaders. This project entails the next phase, which will take these oral histories and develop a report on the neighborhood’s cultural assets. |
| Sarah Shoenfeld | Beyond the Archives | $11,550.00 | When Barry Farm Dwellings was new: How growing up there shaped a community | Ward 4 | Documentary Film | This project captures the cherished memories of elders who grew up at Barry Farm during the early period of public housing. The oral histories that form the basis of this project speak to the value and lifelong impact of growing up at Barry Farm, countering common misperceptions about public housing communities. |
| Street Sense, Inc. | Beyond the Archives | $12,000.00 | Homeless Hearts | Ward 2 | Documentary Film | This grant funding will allow us to utilize pre-existing footage to create a dynamic, engaging video portrait series with feedback from several narrators from Homelessly in Love, a film that tells the story of unhoused adults living in DC and navigating their love lives. |
| An Open Book Foundation | Capacity Building | $25,000.00 | AOB Development Capacity Building Project | Ward 4 | Capacity Building | AOB’s capacity building project will focus on all aspects of our fundraising. It will support the organization by completing an in-depth analysis of our current opportunities to take our fundraising efforts to the next level. We feel this approach will allow us to go further, faster as we mature from a start-up nonprofit to a seasoned organization with the need and desire to ensure we can hire and retain the best staff that is representative of the community, while offering a rich suite of programs that are mission-aligned and student focused. |
| CapitalBop, Inc. | Capacity Building | $25,000.00 | Revamping capitalbop.com and optimizing CapitalBop Inc’s operations | Ward 1 | Capacity Building | Externally, we will launch, carry out and complete a creative rebranding of CapitalBop’s digital identity and the website its first full redesign since 2014. Internally, CB will use an already-assembled team of staffers, board members, expert advisers and consultants to research, implement and launch a new nonprofit CRM system. |
| Critical Exposure | Capacity Building | $22,265.00 | New Camera Equipment for Youth Photography Programs | Ward 1 | Capacity Building | The capacity building grant from HumanitiesDC will allow Critical Exposure (CE) to purchase 40 high-quality digital single-lens reflex cameras for use by young people across all of our programs. |
| Dia de los Muertos Dc | Capacity Building | $25,000.00 | 8th Annual Dia de los Muertos Benefit Festival – “We Are Stronger Together” | Ward 2 | Capacity Building | This grant will support the organizational capacity of Dia de los Muertos DC to carry out the 8th Annual Dia de los Muertos Benefit Festival on the National Mall. Funds will be used to hire staff and pay artists who will participate in the event. |
| Live It Learn It | Capacity Building | $25,000.00 | Building Capacity through Part-time Educators | Ward 6 | Capacity Building | In order to meet increasing demands and expand overall capacity, Live It Learn It will pilot a new model utilizing part-time educators. Prior to and during the 2024-25 school year we will develop a team of part-time educators that will allow us greater flexibility in programming (i.e. the option to schedule more units on a given day because we’ll have more educators available), and potentially expand into more schools the following year. |
| Story District | Capacity Building | $25,000.00 | Story District Email Marketing Campaign | Ward 2 | Capacity Building | This project aims to develop a comprehensive strategic sales funnel that enhances our lead generation, nurturing sequences, targeted sales campaigns, and website optimization. With the support of this grant, we’ll develop an ebook, a webinar, downloadable worksheets, and other useful content. Once a lead is captured, we will foster the relationship through a series of strategic email communications, aiming to convert each lead into a participant – be it as a storyteller, student, client, donor, patron, volunteer or partner. |
| 826DC, Inc. | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | Two Homes: Poetry and Personal Essays from Youth Who Have Immigrated to Washington, DC | Ward 1 | Curriculum | 826DC will develop 4 small-group writing residencies for youth at a DC Public or Public Charter School, tailored towards schools with a significant English Learner population, many of whom recently immigrated from Central America and East Africa. Throughout the residencies, instructors will encourage students to use their native language to make connections between their past, present, and future. |
| Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | Battle of Fort Stevens 160th Anniversary Program | Ward 4 | Event | On July 14, 2024, the Alliance will host a one-day commemoration of the 1864 Battle of Fort Stevens. Through expert talks, demonstrations, re-enactments, musical performances, and children’s programming, DC residents will be immersed in the incredible story of this decisive Civil War battle that saw local people, many of them free Blacks, mass at the Fort with veterans, Federal troops and other civilians, in a desperate last-ditch effort to defend the Capital. |
| Art Enables | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | Celebrating Diversity: A Visual Storytelling into the Lives of Artists with Disabilities | Ward 5 | Workshops and exhibit | Art Enables will collaborate with DC native and artist Dr. Schroeder Cherry to use art as a conduit to explore their own lived experiences and family histories, specifically focusing on their experiences within the disabled community of Washington, DC, focused on found objects as a vehicle for telling the unique stories of DC residents with disabilities. |
| Chitra Subramanian | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | The Great Persons Series Curriculum | Ward 5 | Curriculum | The Great Persons Series is a powerful and engaging history curriculum for children, exploring history and social justice through the lives of important individuals. Using storytelling and hands-on activities, the Series brings stories of 8 DC “Greats” to life for ages 5 to 14. |
| Hola Cultura | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | ArteVoces | Ward 1 | Event series and publication | “ArteVoces” is a Latinx Arts Heritage Dialogue series dedicated to preserving and celebrating of the rich cultural tapestry woven by talented DC artists. Videos and articles produced will dialogues between one well-established and one emerging emerging artist from the fields of visual arts, music, or theater in DC. |
| Jeronique Bartley | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | The Great 8 Fashion & Style Tour | Ward 4 | Documentary Film; Exhibit | Beyond power suits and politics lies a vibrant DC fashion scene waiting to be highlighted. I’ll be diving into this hidden gem, capturing the energy of fashion shows, incubators, influential bloggers, and industry experts across eight diverse neighborhoods, culminating in “The Great 8 Fashion Tour” documentary and online exhibit. |
| Krista Boccio | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | The People In My Neighborhood | Ward 6 | Multimedia presentation | The People in my Neighborhood is a community-based story-telling project, aimed at honoring, preserving and amplifying residents’ stories in my Southwest DC neighborhood. Through portraits and interviews with my neighbors, the project will explore themes of gentrification and community resilience, and document the history of Ward 6 from the lens of residents. |
| Mark Beckford | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | Caribbean American Museum Takeover | Ward 7 | Event | The Caribbean American Museum Takeover is a celebration honoring the great contributions of DC’s 8,000-strong Caribbean American community. Under the theme “One Massive: Bridging the Gap Between the Caribbean Community and D.C.”, this event will illuminate the community’s overlooked history and cultural vibrancy through an exhibit, a panel discussion, and performance art. |
| Meagan Driver | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | Amplifying, celebrating, and raising awareness for multilingual communities in DC | Ward 3 | Podcast | This project will explore the histories of heritage languages and minority language communities in DC. We will record and release four episodes on heritage speaker and signer communities within the DMV and host a panel event to present the episodes to DMV communities. |
| Michelle L Herman | Community Culture & Heritage | $9,926.00 | Fort Totten and Lamond-Riggs: A Historical Tapestry | Ward 5 | Research/Publication | Michelle L. Herman and Stephanie Mills Trice will collaboratively produce a photographic publication that captures the Greater Fort Totten area history, culture, and heritage and accompanies the Lamond-Riggs Lilian J. Huff Community Library “Heritage Wall” installation to serve as an “index” of the project. |
| Redeat Wondemu | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | The Games We Played | Ward 2 | Multimedia presentation | The Games We Played is a visual and oral history exploration of games played by DC residents from all eight wards of Washington, DC. Photographer Redeat Wondemu will also collect visual imagery through photographs and exhibit her work at a community-based exhibition. |
| Samuel (Sami) Miranda | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | May There Always Be Words Between Us | Ward 4 | Documentary Film | This documentary film series explores the open mic poetry scene that exploded in Washington, DC in the 1990s. The series celebrates the power of words but also pays homage to a community of writers that built a legacy that continues to inspire a new generation of artists, poets, and storytellers. |
| Tommy Taylor Jr | Community Culture & Heritage | $10,000.00 | The Special Ways | Ward 8 | Documentary Film | The grantee will produce a compelling mini-documentary highlighting Special Olympics DC and the stories of District residents with intellectual disabilities who are thriving, overcoming challenges, and shaping the future of DC! |
| Center for Innovations in Community Safety | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,366.00 | The Community That Lives Here – Survival Stories of DC Communities Impacted by Gun Violence | Ward 6 | Oral History Project | DC is one of few cities in the US where gun violence is increasing. While gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color, their experiences have historically ben excluded from conversations about them. In response, CICS proposes oral history interviews with narrators between the ages of 18 and 35 who are survivors of gun violence in Wards 7 & 8. |
| DC Fire & Emergency Medical Services Foundation, Inc. | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | DC Fire & EMS Oral History Project: Giving Context to Historic Photos and Videos | Ward 6 | Oral History Project | To supplement the recent publication of photos and stories of the DC Fire Department dating back to the 19th century, this series of oral history interviews will explore the integration of the Department by African Americans in the early 20th century, the evolution of Emergency Medical Services since the 1970s, and the recruitment and promotion of women in this still male dominated field. |
| Diyanna Monet Burton | DC Oral History Collaborative | $7,600.00 | Her Impact: Celebrating Women in DC’s Dance Communities | Ward 4 | Oral History Project | This oral history project will explore the narratives of women in the DC dance community, and their perspectives on the challenges and motivations behind building their skill and attempts to connect with local communities in the late 2000s and early 2010s. |
| Lianne Scott | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | Ridgecrest Condominium’s Fight to Resist Gentrification | Ward 8 | Oral History Project | Is condominium ownership in the District of Columbia a good way to find affordable housing and building family wealth? This oral history project aims to address this question, focusing on the Independent Owners and Residents of Ridgecrest (IORR) and their efforts to retake control of the Ridgecrest Condominium Association so that necessary repairs could be made allowing residents to live in safety and comfort. |
| Jamal Jones | DC Oral History Collaborative | $10,000.00 | In It Together – House Show Venues of DC | Ward 7 | Oral History Project | The focus of this research topic is the history of the house show scene of Washington DC. It will include interviews from house show venue residents who operated between 2000 to 2016. The goal is to not only tell the story of the individuals who gave rise to the music scene of that era, but will also give insight as to how one might operate a venue on their own. |
| Kimberly Rodgers | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | Residue | Ward 5 | Oral History Project | Dominant narratives assert that DC is a city under siege and certain demographics (particularly Black youth) and neighborhoods (in Wards 5, 7 and 8) need to be surveilled, policed, and controlled. These narratives lead to controversial policy decisions, and frequently exclude the voices of community members impacted. This oral history project aims to capture those voices to paint a detailed picture of the issue of gun violence from the perspectives of the people dealing with it most frequently. |
| Leslie Aroon Walsh | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | Bank on Her: Exploring the Effects of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act | Ward 6 | Oral History Project | We propose to capture the experiences of adult women who lived in the 1970s, and record what effects, if any, the passing of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) had on their lives. Passed in 1974, the ECOA required financial institutions to make credit equally available to all creditworthy customers without regard to sex or marital status. |
| MORE Inc. | DC Oral History Collaborative | $13,000.00 | Voices of Opportunity: A 360° View of Mayor Barry’s SYEP Impact | Ward 6 | Oral History Project | The primary area of interest for our oral history project is to explore the impact of Mayor Marion Barry’s Summer Youth Employment Program on individual lives, community development, and the broader socio-economic landscape of Washington DC. |
| Necothia Bowens | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | All Skate – DC | Ward 7 | Oral History Project | This project seeks to document and preserve the first person accounts of Washington DC roller skaters who frequented the National Roller Rink, fondly referred to as Kalorama Road, the Anacostia Roller Skating Pavilion from it’s opening through the early 2000’s, street skating with a focus on late 70’s into 80’s, as well as roller skating DJ’s from the 60’s through today. |
| Noel Schroeder | DC Oral History Collaborative | $12,937.50 | Ward 2 Mutual Aid History Project | Ward 2 | Oral History Project | We will interview members of the wider Ward 2 Mutual Aid network, focusing on our two key underserved communities, to document their evolving experiences with housing insecurity and related DC support systems from 2020-2024, and how they worked and organized to address these issues and build community care and safety. |
| Oluseyi Akinyode | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | Now We See You | Ward 5 | Oral History Project | Urban redevelopment is a multifaceted issue marked by progress in the form of new amenities and safer neighborhoods, yet often accompanied by the displacement and erasure of minority and marginalized communities. Through Now We See You, I will explore the tension between preservation and progress by amplifying the voices of those directly impacted in Columbia Heights and the Waterfront. |
| Rhonda Henderson | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | 91, We in a Dope Jam | Ward 3 | Oral History Project | This oral history project aims to capture the intersection of music, fashion, and socio-political forces in mid to late 1990s DC. Oral history allows us to capture personal narratives and lived experiences directly from individuals who have been affected by the social-political phenomena shaping black and brown lives in Washington DC during the mid to late nineties. |
| Shilpi Malinowski | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | Mount Pleasant: The Rise and Fall of Cultural Community Centers | Ward 5 | Oral History Project | This project seeks out residents to tell the stories of Mount Pleasant and their relationships to community institutions such as La Casa and the Community of Christ, the Latin American Youth Center, La Clínica del Pueblo, Marx Café, Bancroft Elementary School, and Bell Multicultural High School, among others. |
| Vision House | DC Oral History Collaborative | $8,000.00 | DC’s Unsung Champions of Civil Rights:To Secure Civil Rights in Washington and Beyond | Ward 1 | Oral History Project | This project will interview 10 Washingtonians who played critical roles in advancing civil rights in our city. As Board members and/or volunteer attorneys, they worked with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (WLC) over a period of 50 years. |
| Claude L Elliott | DC Oral History Collaborative Extension Project | $8,000.00 | Creating Space and Opportunities: DC Black Owned/Managed Art Galleries and Spaces | Ward 8 | Oral History Project | This project addresses the vitality of Black art spaces as an important sector of DC’s cultural and entrepreneurial landscape. These narratives bear witness to American art history from a Washingtonian perspective that is not fully documented. |
| Archaeology in the Community | Visions – Projects & Events | $11,075.00 | 2024 DC Day of Archaeology Festival | Ward 5 | Festival | Since 2011, Archaeology in the Community has organized the annual DC Day of Archaeology Festival. The festival is a free community event, bringing in 250-500 attendees each year. The event gathers local organizations and agencies to inform our community about archaeological resources through hands-on activities. |
| CapitalBop, Inc. | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Putting D.C.’s Jazz History and Culture Onscreen | Ward 1 | Multimedia presentation | CapitalBop will launch a new program of video content that brings short documentaries, critical conversations, videos on D.C. jazz history, instructional videos, and performance recordings to audiences around the city and beyond. |
| CulturalDC | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Torrents: New Links to Black Futures | Ward 1 | Festival | Torrents: New Links to Black Futures is a multi-day festival, gathering Black creative professionals, scholars, and collectors to examine critical questions about the development of Black cross-diasporic futures through visual arts, technology, music, film, and performance. |
| DC Jazz Festival | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | 2024 DC: A Jazz City Video Series | Ward 6 | Documentary Film | DC Jazz Festival’s DC: A Jazz City documentary series chronicles more than 75 years of jazz making told by artists, broadcasters and jazz specialists who make DC home. The 2024 series will highlight the movers, the shakers and the candlestick makers of this music called jazz and how it has transformed from generation to generation, finding unique dwellings across our city. |
| DC SCORES | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | DC SCORES Citywide Poetry Slams | Ward 2 | Event | In November, DC SCORES’ annual Poetry Slams give poet-athletes a platform to share their art with their peers and communities, following a 12-week season that engages students in arts-based enrichment and poetry instruction led by our coaches from school communities and local teaching artists. |
| DC/DOX (Fiscal sponsor: Women in Film and Video) | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | DC/DOX | Ward 6 | Festival | DC/DOX is a significant new film festival in the nation’s capital dedicated to promoting documentary film as a leading art form, championing new voices and innovations in non-fiction storytelling, and using film as a catalyst to engage the most pressing issues of our time. |
| Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | 33rd Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital | Ward 2 | Festival | The 33rd Annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital will take place in March 2025 across more than 25 venues throughout the District, celebrating the accomplishments of environmental filmmaking and storytelling. A majority of these screenings are presented at no cost to the audience. |
| Gallaudet University | Visions – Projects & Events | $24,730.00 | We, Native Deaf People, Are Still Here! | Ward 5 | Exhibit | The National Deaf Life Museum at Gallaudet University is producing an exhibition led by Indigenous deaf curators that will function as a “community takeover” of the museum’s space in Chapel Hall, merging the stories of Indigenous cultures that were the original stewards of the land of Washington DC with the stories of the deaf community that has occupied the campus property since 1857. |
| Historical Society of Washington, DC | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Putting Ideas into Action: A Grassroots Community Archiving Collective for DC’s Latinx History | Ward 2 | Research/Publication | DCHC will host a community-driven collecting project that preserves the history of DC’s Latino/a/x residents. The project features outreach to members of the community, holding 1-2 “collections clinics” for receiving and digitizing materials, and processing materials to make them available to the public as part of DC’s historic record. |
| Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | I’ll Have What She’s Having: The Jewish Deli Exhibition-Related Events at the Capital Jewish Museum | Ward 6 | Event | The Capital Jewish Museum will host three events offering unique, DC-focused perspectives on the humanities themes featured in the special exhibition “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli, on loan from LA’s Skirball Center and customized with local content. |
| National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Wilson & Race, Wilson & Civil Liberties | Ward 2 | Exhibit | In 2025 the President Wilson House, a National Trust Historic Site, will present Wilson & Race, Wilson & Civil Liberties. Located in the 28th president’s former home in Washington, DC, this new exhibit will explore Wilson’s legacy on race and civil liberties, particularly his impact on the nation’s capital and allowing the segregation of the federal workforce. |
| One World Education | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | One World Post-Pandemic Response Project: Using the Arts to Respond to Those Who Need Them Most | Ward 3 | Event | The 2024 One World Middle School Academy is a 10-week afterschool program that meets twice a week at UNCF, preparing students for a public showcase of their work, college-level writing, and public speaking. The program will culminate in the One World Challenge, where dozens of students make two-minute presentations to an audience of 300 community leaders, educators, and family members. |
| Rainbow History Project | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Gay Pride in DC: 50 Years of Protests and Parties | Ward 1 | Exhibit | In June 2025, Washington will host WorldPride, a two-week international event that will draw 2-3 million participants and coincide with the 50th anniversary of DC’s first Gay Pride Day. The Rainbow History Project seeks to create an exhibit on the History of DC Pride, to be displayed on Freedom Plaza during WorldPride, in addition to creating an accompanying online portal. |
| The Inner Loop | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | The Inner Loop Literary Reading Series | Ward 1 | Event | The Inner Loop holds ten monthly readings per calendar year. Each reading features one established writer from the region alongside nine up-and-coming local writers in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Readings are held monthly in local restaurants around the city, and they are always free and open to the public. |
| theatreWashington | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Washington Theatre Week – We Tell Stories | Ward 2 | Festival | We Tell Stories’ is a multi-event humanities program that will run during Theatre Washington’s fall Theatre Week festival at venues across DC. The lineup includes an exhibit on DC’s historic Black Broadway; a walking tour on placemaking via storytelling on DC stages; panels with playwrights who tell personal/historically impactful stories through often unrecorded lenses using theatre; and on-site personal storytelling recordings at our City on the River event. |
| Transformer, Inc. | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Democracy on Parade | Ward 2 | Event and exhibit | Scheduled to coincide with ongoing voter registration initiatives around DC, this event will activate our Logan Circle storefront exhibition space as a ‘Creation Lab’ to engage community in collective arts action that highlights socially engaged performance and moving sculpture elements by BIPOC & LGBTQAI+ and female identifying artists. |
| Washington, DC International Film Festival | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Washington, DC International Film Festival (Filmfest DC) | Ward 1 | Festival | The 39th Filmfest DC will be in spring 2025, with 80 films and 120 screenings of international films across 11 days. Landmark’s E Street Cinema in downtown Washington DC will serve as the primary venue, with additional screenings at other community/cultural venues. |
| YMCA of Metropolitan Washington | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Service Is Everywhere in DC: Honoring and Inspiring Service in All Its Forms | Ward 1 | Exhibit | The YMCA of Metropolitan Washington; Rotary Club of Washington, D.C.; District of Columbia Public Library; and National Museum and Center for Service will honor and tell the history and diverse, uplifting stories of community service and civic engagement throughout the District at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library from the fall of 2024 through a first-of-its-kind exhibition. |
| Zuri Story Works | Visions – Projects & Events | $25,000.00 | Creating While Black in DC | Ward 4 | Documentary Film | The project is a documentary film about how DC and its artists meet at the intersection of struggle and triumph. The story follows two storylines simultaneously that catch up to one another. The city’s story is told through the art and personal stories of a group of Black artists whose art is at the forefront of reimagining the city beyond the US capital, but as a place, where people live and thrive. |
| DC SCORES | Youth in the Humanities | $25,000.00 | Poet-Athlete City | Ward 2 | General Operating Support | DC SCORES’ mission is to create neighborhood teams that give kids the confidence and skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom, and in life. Each year, we serve 3,000+ poet-athletes at 60+ Title 1 elementary and middle schools through our free, year-round afterschool program, which combines soccer, poetry, and service learning. Our program improves physical and social-emotional health, and the sense of belonging that comes with being part of a team helps kids build the resilience necessary to process the world around them. |
| Global Kids, Inc. | Youth in the Humanities | $25,000.00 | Global Kids Citywide Global Leadership Program | Ward 6 | General Operating Support | Global Kids (GK) inspires, educates, and mobilizes youth to become global citizens who are positively engaged in the world and are prepared for their future. GK-DC offers a variety of in-school, out-of-school, and summer programs at Title 1 DC Public School sites, the GK-DC citywide program at our headquarters, and the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute Global Education Program in partnership with the DC Department of Employment Services. |
| LearnServe International | Youth in the Humanities | $25,000.00 | LearnServe: Supporting Youth Changemakers and Leaders | Ward 2 | General Operating Support | LearnServe International empowers young people from diverse backgrounds, as globally-minded changemakers tackling social challenges in their communities. We bring together high school students from diverse backgrounds with undiscovered leadership potential and a strong desire to create change. LearnServe is a bridge between the academic side of humanities and the applied side of humanities. We offer a suite of interconnected after-school programs that engage high school students in social innovation and global perspectives. |
| Many Languages One Voice | Youth in the Humanities | $25,000.00 | Exploring Immigrant Youth Identity and Leadership Through Multilingual Engagement | Ward 1 | General Operating Support | Founded in 2010, Many Languages One Voice is a BIPOC immigrant-led organization that works to build the voice of Washington, DC’s low-income BIPOC immigrant communities. Our mission is to foster leadership and greater civic participation of immigrants and refugees who do not speak English as a primary language. |
| Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School | Youth in the Humanities | $25,000.00 | Impact Through Advocacy: Fostering Civic Engagement at Thurgood Marshall Academy | Ward 8 | General Operating Support | Inspired by Georgetown University’s Law Center, Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School is a law-themed high school serving grades 9-12 with the mission to prepare students to succeed in college and to actively engage in our democratic society. Ours is a school where not every student becomes a lawyer, but instead develops skills needed to be successful in life – the ability to think critically, advocate persuasively, and contribute to society. |
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