The National Endowment for the Humanities gets far too little attention, imho. So I took some time this past weekend to look at its most recent round of grants, which were announced earlier this month. Nearly 200 awards worth a total of $20 million were made to cultural institutions, universities and libraries in 36 states and Washington, D.C., plus a couple of scholars working overseas. The grants cover digital humanities, preservation/access, educational and public programs, research and collections.
The biggest award — $1 million — will go to the Asia Society for a traveling exhibition, plus
website, symposium, educational and public programs, catalogue and film on the life of the Buddha. The traveling show focuses on the “art of Buddhist pilgrimages” to sites important in the Buddha’s life. The Asia Society hasn’t issued a press release about this, yet at least, nor is there any further information about it on its website, so the show must be a ways down the road. But it sounds like an interesting show.
The Newberry Library in Chicago actually received more money in this grant round, just over $1.2 million, but that total covers five separate projects involving educational programs, archives, fellowships, and so on. One grant will pay to plan an online and traveling exhibition called “Make Big Plans: Daniel Burnham’s Vision of An American Metropolis,” about the 1909 Plan of Chicago, which is said to be America’s first comprehensive urban plan.
There are plenty of other interesting awards on the grant list. For this post, I focused on those that will aid exhibitions:
- $250,000 to the Brooklyn Museum for a traveling exhibition on the Plains Indian tipi
- nearly $350,000 to the Frick Collection to digitize “deteriorating” photographs of American paintings
- $300,000 to the Oakland Museum for a permanent gallery on California history
- $350,000 to the University of Illinois at Chicago for a new core exhibition at the Jane Addams-Hull House Museum
- $380,000 to the Peabody-Essex Museum for a traveling and online exhibition called “Fiery Pool: Maya and the Mythic Sea,” plus a catalogue and public programs.
The rest are listed on the NEH website. I know several cultural groups — not just museums, but orchestras and theaters — who say they’ve never applied for an NEH grant.
Depending on the project, they may or may not qualify. But I think there’s more there than many people realize. In 2006, for example, the Frick received a $750,000 challenge grant toward a $3.75 million endowment for a senior decorative arts curator. I mentioned that grant to another museum director recently, who was stunned.
When budget time comes around, the NEH deserves as much support as the NEA.
Photo: Standing Buddha, Afghanistan, 1st Century