Our Grantmaking
Growing, deepening, and building upon Minnesota’s rich heritage and shared humanity.
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) is honored to be entrusted with funds to keep the humanities strong and vital in the state of Minnesota. We take this responsibility very seriously and relish the opportunity to award and administer grants to develop and support exemplary humanities programming within the state.
Questions?
2023-2025 Grantee Resources
Current Grant Opportunities
The following grant opportunities are available from the Minnesota Humanities Center:
Emergency Response Grant
Assist communities responding to major events and facilitate the process of grieving, encouraging healing, creating memorials, or assisting in recovery of the community.
Open To: Organizations | Application Deadline: October 15, 2026, or until all funds have been expended, whichever occurs first.
2025-2027 Biennium Grants
During the 2025-27 legislative biennium, the MHC received an appropriation of $21.4 million, the largest amount of funding in its history for grants to be administered.
MHC, by virtue of funding provided by the Minnesota Legislature, will make several grant opportunities available during year one of the 2025-27 biennium, which begins July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. These grant opportunities will help to support the following in Minnesota:
| Grant | Grant Goals |
|---|---|
| Children’s Museums (10 Recipients) | Support arts and cultural exhibits and related educational outreach programs. |
| Cultural Heritage | Preserve and honor the cultural heritage of Minnesota, provide education and student outreach on cultural diversity, expand development of culturally diverse humanities programming, empower communities in building identity and culture, or amplify the arts, culture, and heritage in Minnesota. |
| Direct Appropriations (5 Recipients) | Legislatively named awards supporting different projects during the biennium. |
| Emergency Response (5 Recipients) | Support communities in responding to a major event in Minnesota; facilitate the process of grieving; encourage healing, or create memorials, or assist in the recovery of the community. |
| Ethnic Media | Create video content in a language other than English. |
| Festivals | Support cultural festivals and events in Minnesota. |
| Minnesota Musicians | Create, produce, and perform music throughout the Minnesota. |
| Museum, Exhibits, and Collections (10 Recipients) | Support Museums, Exhibits, and Collections in Minnesota. |
| Underrepresented Groups Cultural Studies Materials | Develop high-quality academic, cultural, and ethnic studies materials for communities that do not have adequate cultural and ethnic studies materials. |
| Youth Literacy | Support authors and organizations to create and produce books. |
We look forward to working with the community as we successfully continue to expand MHC’s grant opportunities. Please be sure to sign up for the MHC newsletter where you will be notified when an MHC grant opportunity is made available.
Independent Review Panelists Sought
MHC is seeking individuals to serve as Independent Review Panelists to assist us in determining grant awards during the 2025-27 biennium. We are particularly interested in reviewers from BIPOC communities and individuals with humanities experience, museum experience, nonprofit management, festival planning, ethnic media production, musicians and artists, and youth literacy and education. If you are interested in serving as a reviewer, please complete our online application to indicate your interest. The number of reviewers and time needed will be determined on a grant-by-grant basis.
2023-2025 Grantees
Congratulations to the 175 recipients of Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment (Legacy) awards for the 2023-2025 Biennium, who have collectively been awarded more than $15.4 million in grant funding.
Our Grantmaking Philosophy
We operate with transparency. We say what we mean, we do what we say, and we use clear, plain language. The MHC grants team is ready and eager to offer their support to individuals and organizations.
We integrate equity, inclusion, and diversity into our grantmaking work. In order to ensure all humanities stories are told, we are always seeking ways to improve access and outreach, reduce application barriers, and ensure participation of all communities in the funding process.
Applicants and grantees are important. We are committed to providing friendly and timely technical assistance before application submission and during grant administration.
Funding Sources and Applicant Support
We administer grants to communities, organizations, and individuals across Minnesota in three ways:
- MHC-designated opportunities via Legacy Amendment funds and/or NEH funds
- Legislatively Named (Legacy Amendment)
- Through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
The scope of the above funding opportunities is determined by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Minnesota Legislature.
Our staff provide technical assistance and support to make grant opportunities more accessible, particularly for first-time applicants and grantees.
Past Grantees
Explore the nearly 400 grants we have administered through our various funding streams and partnerships since 2019.
Grantmaking in Action
Discover the many ways Minnesotans leverage the humanities through our grantmaking to create connection, deepen understanding, and spark positive change.
“After taking this class, I felt more comfortable saying hello or smiling. Micro connections are easier. It helped me to overcome my own hangups about connecting.”
– A participant from grantee Unite Cloud’s Somali Language and Culture Class in St. Cloud
“MHC’s support allowed us to lead the creation of the first-ever Day of the Dead altar at the Minnesota State Capitol. This work was acknowledged by Governor Walz, who also acknowledged Day of the Dead in Minnesota, the first state in the country to officially do so.”
– Aaron Johnson-Ortiz, executive director of (Neo)Muralismos de México
