General Grant Information

OCH awards grants to nonprofit organizations and groups organized for nonprofit purposes in Oregon to support activities that encourage critical thinking and public engagement with the humanities. The humanities are more than the disciplines that document past and present human experience, including history, literature, language, ethics and philosophy, and various legal, cultural, religious and folk traditions. The humanities offer us opportunities to learn, listen, and reflect, and to engage with our fellow Oregonians in new ways. General Public Program Grant requests between $1,000 and $5,000 are awarded once a year through a competitive grant process. Opportunity Grant requests up to $1,000 are accepted year-round. OCH grant recipients are selected by our statewide volunteer board of directors.

OCH grants fund projects that explore timeless ideas as well as programs that respond to timely local, national, or international issues or events. OCH funds activities as varied as lectures, reading and discussion groups, community dialogues, public conferences, documentary film or radio work, consultation and planning with humanities scholars, and discussions before or after performances, literary readings, or films.

OCH encourages applications from a broad range of nonprofit organizations in Oregon, including those that may not typically define their mission through the humanities. Though proposals for all kinds of humanities programs are welcome, special consideration will be given to projects that use the humanities to explore the following themes, which are of particular interest to OCH:

  • Globalism (including but not limited to economics, war, security, labor, migration, immigration, or foreign policy)
  • Media and Consumer Culture (including but not limited to media literacy, consumerism, advertising, socioeconomics, technology, ethics, or privacy)
  • Place and Community (including but not limited to public space, property rights, sustainability, localism, land use, urban and rural issues, or the built environment)

    • Please download and review OCH Grants guidelines for more information. Letters of intent to apply for Public Program Grants must be postmarked by November 3, 2008. Requests for Opportunity Grants will be accepted and reviewed on a monthly basis between November 1, 2008, and October 31, 2009.

    Download OCH Grants Guidelines

    Spring 2008 Public Program Grant Awards

    Abdill-Ellis Lambda Community Center and Not Straight Not Sure, Ashland
    Opening Our Eyes: Southern Oregon GLBT Film Series ($3,500)
    Opening Our Eyes is a film and educational project. The series will be held in two parts: once during GLBT PRIDE week in July, and once during "Coming Out" month in October.
    B-Word Worldwide, Portland
    Feminist Perspectives in Pop Culture Lecture Series ($5,000)
    B-Word proposes to create and produce our inaugural lecture series. This four-evening lecture series is to be tentatively held in September 2008, November 2008, February 2009, and April 2009 at the Portland State University Smith Memorial Ballroom.
    Cannon Beach History Center, Cannon Beach
    Politics of Sand ($3,000)
    The "Politics of Sand" exhibit will be installed in the CBHC rotating exhibit space and will be displayed February 2009 through December 2009. It will include artifacts related to the Oregon Beach Bill (1967) and Measure 6 (1968). A documentary will be shown and 23 oral histories will be available.
    Media Project, Portland
    Heavy Weather ($5,000)
    This one-hour radio documentary will examine the social, economic, ecological, and ethical implications of climate-change induced weather patterns in the Pacific Northwest. If severe flooding, landslides, and windfalls become the rule each winter, rather than the exception, how does that shape future urban development patterns and design?
    Northwest Documentary Arts and Media, Portland
    To Pay My Way With Stories ($5,000)
    Filmmaker Brian Lindstrom will create a full-length documentary that explores the struggle to join the civic discourse faced by members of several largely invisible communities in Portland. The film will follow their work in writing workshops offered through Write Around Portland, showing how their stories help them carve out their places in the greater community.
    Oregon Children's Theatre, Portland
    Gossamer Project ($5,000)
    In conjunction with the world premiere adaptation of Gossamer by Lois Lowry, OCT will develop programs, including post-performance discussions, community resource guides, and a community forum, that will spark dialogue and exploration of humanities subjects related to the play's themes.
    Oregon Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Portland
    Oregon Lincoln Bicentennial Town Hall Program ($4,000)
    The OLBC will conduct nine town halls across the state. Subjects of the town halls will focus on Abraham Lincoln's leadership and values as they relate to today. The town halls feature a Lincoln actor, a musician, and two Lincoln scholars. These are not lectures but will encourage a dialogue with the audience on the selected topics for the programs.
    Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland
    2008 Time-Based Art Festival Institute ($3,000)
    TBA:08 features four components: workshops, panels/chats, gallery tours/salons, and lectures. It is the apparatus by which PICA contextualizes our mission of acknowledging and advancing new developments in contemporary art while fostering the creative explorations of artists and audiences alike.
    Umatilla County 4-H Youth Program, Pendleton
    Telling the Story of Umatilla County Century Farm Families ($2,500)
    This is an interactive project designed to engage youth in preserving the rich agricultural stories of Umatilla County. The project will involve interviews, video films, and websites portraying century farm families as a legacy for future generations.