Oregon Humanities

$80,000 in Grants Awarded to Oregon Nonprofits

Oregon Humanities awards grants for projects that connect Oregonians to new ideas

01 March 2011 | Permalink

Twenty-three nonprofit organizations throughout the state will receive $80,000 in grants from Oregon Humanities for public programs that create conversation about some of Oregon’s most divisive issues, including immigration, climate change, and public health.

The 2011 Public Program Grant recipients, listed by city, are as follows:

Bend—$3,000 to the Nature of Words for “The Nature of Words Annual Literary Festival,” which brings authors to Bend for five days of readings, workshops, lectures, and dinners, increasing awareness of literary arts and the organization’s year-round creative writing programs for youth.

Corvallis—$5,500 to Oregon State University for “The Rachel Carson Quorum: Building Resiliency into Moral Systems,” a full-day workshop for humanities experts and citizens to explore what it means to live morally in a world undergoing radical climate disruption.

Enterprise—$5,000 to Fishtrap for “2011 Summer Fishtrap Gathering: Migrations and Passages,” a weekend of public readings and conversations at Wallowa Lake on a variety of topics, including immigration policy and the reintroduction of wolves in Wallowa County.

Grants Pass—$3,300 to Rogue Community College for “I’m Just Like You Only Different: The Human Face of Change,” a conference on home foreclosure, returning veterans, displaced workers, and the Latino experience.

Jacksonville—$5,250 to the Southern Oregon Historical Society for “History: Made by You,” a pair of community forums leading to community-created traveling exhibits on local history.

Joseph—$3,750 to the Wallowa Land Trust for “Into the Wallowa Summer Outings,” a series of free, guided trips and supplemental evening lectures highlighting Wallowa County’s rural culture, farming and ranching, and Nez Perce history.

Marylhurst—$5,000 to Marylhurst University for “Bridging the Divide: Interfaith Conversations,” a series of ten interfaith panels that feature leaders of four faith communities discussing urgent justice issues, such as water, human trafficking, and globalization.

Newport—$1,000 to the Newport Public Library Foundation for “Newport Reads: Down in My Heart,” a series of conversations developed around William Stafford’s first book, Down in My Heart: Peace Witness in Wartime.

North Bend—$2,500 to the North Bend Public Library for “Title Wave 2011,” the community reads program of the Coos County Library Service District. Author Jim Lynch will speak about his novel The Highest Tide.

Pendleton—$4,000 to Blue Mountain Community College for “Resilience: Bouncing Back,” an arts and culture festival exploring how individuals and communities can overcome adversity.

Portland—$1,500 to NW Documentary for “Digital Dialogue: Exploring the World of Documentary Art and Storytelling in a Digital Age,” a free public lecture series about the rapidly changing role of documentary in our society.

Portland—$3,400 to the Historic Preservation League of Oregon for “Historic Preservation 101,” a five-workshop series in Crook, Deschutes, Douglas, Klamath, and Umatilla counties on tools for protecting and preserving Oregon’s historic places.

Portland—$2,200 to the Portland Playhouse’s “Community Engagement Program,” which will invite African American community leaders, artists, and cultural experts to lead discussions after each Sunday matinee performance of August Wilson’s play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Portland—$2,357 to the Oregon Women’s History Consortium for “Century of Action: Lives of Women Citizens” program, a public conversation between young women and veteran female politicians about the role of women in politics today and in the future.

Portland—$3,000 to Jewish Theatre Collaborative for “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Well Being Performance and Town Halls,” bringing together policy makers, public health workers, and members of the community to recognize community nursing activist Lillian Wald and reflect on the question, “What is public health?”

Portland—$2,000 to the Bus Project for “Divided We Fall: How Ideology and Identity Shape Community,” a series of three public lectures on the roles of identity, partisanship, and participation in connecting and dividing communities.

Portland—$6,893 to the Muslim Educational Trust for “Open Conversations: Reflections on Islam in America,” a series of five lectures, each followed by an open forum, in which speakers address Islam and its impact on American life.

Portland—$4,500 to the Oregon Nikkei Endowment for “Kip Fulbeck: Part Asian, 100% Hapa,” for six public programs that will accompany a six-month traveling exhibition of eighty photographic portraits by artist/curator Kip Fulbeck.

Portland—$3,000 to Miracle Theatre Group for “The Inquisition of Lazarillo: Raising the Question,” a series of three discussions accompanying the play Lazarillo that will explore the themes of work, class, identity, and dissent.

Portland—$4,100 to the Library Foundation for “Teen Read & Hispanic Heritage Month,” bringing author Matt de la Pena to Portland for a lecture and twelve free library programs celebrating Hispanic culture and exploring the themes of his books.

Salem—$4,500 to the Willamette Heritage Center for “Recreation of a Historical Kalapuya Shovelnose Canoe,” a project offered in conjunction with the Grand Ronde Canoe Journey exhibition at the Willamette Heritage Center.

The Dalles—$3,000 to Columbia Gorge Community College for “2011 Spring Humanities Series: Truth in Media,” a series of four public events in which media professionals will engage the community in discussions on the pursuit of truth and accuracy and how news is evolving in a changing media landscape.

Tillamook—$1,250 to the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum for “Doty and Coyote: Storytelling Workshop,” which invites a nationally recognized Native American storyteller to lead workshops at two Tillamook County venues.

Oregon Humanities connects Oregonians to ideas that change lives and transform communities. More information about our programs and publications—which include the Conversation Project: A New Chautauqua, Think & Drink, Humanity in Perspective, Teacher Institutes, Happy Camp: Oregon Humanities Honors Symposium, Public Program Grants, Responsive Program Grants, and Oregon Humanities magazine—can be found at oregonhumanities.org. Oregon Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust.