Humanities NY awarded a total of $1.2M in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to 120 NYS cultural nonprofits affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These SHARP (Sustaining the Humanities Through the American Rescue Plan) Operating Grants focus on organizations with a core humanities mission and range from $1,000 to $20,000. Grants can be used to cover day-to-day activities or ongoing expenses such as staff salaries, utilities, and rent, as well as for humanities programming and professional development. HNY awarded $710,000 to 67 NYS museums located in every REDC region. Other organizations funded include the Greater Hudson Heritage Network who received a $10,000 grant, New York Folklore who received $20,000 and the Museum Association of New York who were also awarded $20,000. 

 

List of NYS Museums Awarded HNY SHARP Funding

Albany County Historical Society, Capital Region, $17,000.00

Chapman Historical Museum, Capital Region, $15,000.00

Children's Museum of Saratoga, Capital Region, $5,000.00

Columbia County Historical Society, Capital Region, $10,000.00

Historic Cherry Hill, Capital Region, $20,000.00

Irish American Heritage Museum, Capital Region, $5,000.00

Rensselaer County Historical Society, Capital Region, $15,000.00

Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Capital Region, $15,000.00

Underground Railroad Education Center, Capital Region, $10,000.00

Cayuga Museum of History and Art, Central NY, $15,000.00

Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum, Central NY, $5,000.00

Erie Canal Museum, Central NY, $10,000.00

Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, Central NY, $8,500.00

Oneida Community Mansion House, Central NY, $5,000.00

Onondaga Historical Association, Central NY, $10,000.00

Seward House Museum, Central NY, $20,000.00

Friends of Ganondagan, Finger Lakes, $20,000.00

Genesee Country Village and Museum, Finger Lakes, $20,000.00

Geneva Historical Society, Finger Lakes, $10,000.00

National Women's Hall of Fame, Finger Lakes, $15,000.00

Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion, Finger Lakes, $5,000.00

Preservation Long Island, Long Island, $20,000.00

Three Village Historical Society, Long Island, $5,000.00

Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, Long Island, $10,000.00

The Whaling Museum and Education Center, Long Island, $20,000.00

Committee to Save the Bird Homestead, Mid-Hudson, $5,000.00

D&H Canal Historical Society, Mid-Hudson, $5,000.00

FASNY Museum of Firefighting, Mid-Hudson, $10,000.00

Gomez Mill House, Mid-Hudson, $5,000.00

Historical Society of the New York Courts, Mid-Hudson, $15,000.00

Hudson River Maritime Museum, Mid-Hudson, $15,000.00

Huguenot Historical Society, Mid-Hudson, $15,000.00

Mid-Hudson Heritage Center, Mid-Hudson, $5,000.00

Mount Gulian Society, Mid-Hudson, $10,000.00

Putnam History Museum, Mid-Hudson, $15,000.00

Reher Center for Immigrant Culture and History, Mid-Hudson, $15,000.00

Sing Sing Prison Museum, Mid-Hudson, $15,000.00

Historical Society of Woodstock, Mid-Hudson, $3,000.00

Iroquois Indian Museum, Mohawk Valley, $10,000.00

Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, NYC, $5,000.00

Coney Island History Project, NYC, $5,000.00

Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, NYC, $11,000.00

Alice Austen House Museum, NYC, $10,000.00

Historic House Trust of NYC, NYC, $5,000.00

King Manor Museum, NYC, $5,000.00

Morris-Jumel Mansion, NYC, $15,000.00

Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden, NYC, $15,000.00

Museum at Eldridge Street, NYC, $20,000.00

Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, NYC, $5,000.00

Museum of Music & Entertainment in NYC, NYC, $2,000.00

Old Merchant's House of NY, NYC, $5,000.00

Queens Historical Society, NYC, $13,500.00

Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, NYC, $10,000.00

Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford Stuyvesant History, NYC, $10,000.00

Waterfront Museum, NYC, $5,000.00

Fulton County Historical Society, North Country, $5,000.00

Historic Saranac Lake, North Country, $20,000.00

Fort Ticonderoga Association, North Country, $15,000.00

Chemung County Historical Society, Southern Tier, $5,000.00

Chenango County Historical Society, Southern Tier, $5,000.00

Corning Painted Post Historical Society, Southern Tier, $10,000.00

The History Center in Tompkins County, Southern Tier, $20,000.00

The Buffalo History Museum, Western NY, $10,000.00

Fenton Historical Society of Jamestown, Western NY, $5,000.00

Niagara County Historical Society, Western NY, $5,000.00

Old Fort Niagara Association, Western NY, $5,000.00

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site, Western NY, $10,000.00

HNY reviewed nearly 200 applications from cultural organizations requesting over $3 million in funding. Just over 60% of applications were funded. HNY prioritized equitable grantmaking by considering geographic location, mission, and the importance of reaching underrepresented communities in its funding decisions.

“To ensure that recovery funding reaches diverse institutions, HNY provides its resources to smaller organizations,” stated Sara Ogger, HNY Executive Director. “These partners are creative, nimble, and responsive to the needs of their audiences because their leadership reflects the demographics they serve. SHARP funds will help sustain them as they chart a way forward.”

“Historic Cherry Hill has launched so many game-changing projects over the past couple of years, from the interpretive planning to digital initiatives to a new teen guide program and collaborative educational initiatives,” said Deborah Emmons-Andarawis, Executive Director of History Cherry Hill. “Our HNY SHARP grant will provide general support as we continue this important mission work. We are so honored to have received the highest level of funding.”

“This HNY SHARP award will support our organization’s ability to present humanities programs, which are in response to our community’s evolving needs and interests,” said Jamie Smith, Executive Director at FASNY Museum of Firefighting. “As the only Museum in Hudson and the only humanities entity open year round, this community and beyond rely on us to bring them programming such as this, and to be a safe space for the community discourse.”

“This grant is a tremendous help as we build back our organizational capacity during this time of ongoing pandemic-related disruptions,” said Amy Catania, Director of Historic Saranac Lake. “The grant also supports stipends for Humanities Scholars to host public programs in the coming year associated with our next exhibit, ‘Pandemic Perspectives.’”

“Thanks to the financial support we received, the future of our organization looks to be very promising,” said Jessica Moquin, Executive Director at Chenango County Historical Society & Museum. “As the premier cultural organization in Chenango County whose primary purpose is to offer inclusive and relevant humanities programs, receiving this grant has ensured sustainability for our museum, while allowing us to respond to the needs of our communities.”

“The HNY SHARP grant will provide “bridge funding” to help us weather the uncertainty of this post-pandemic transition. It will help us maintain staff; this staff will enable us to build upon our hard-earned virtual program success and resume on-site humanities programs when COVID is behind us,” said Eva Brune, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at the Museum at Eldridge Street.

The objective of the 120 awards is to help organizations mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic by providing budgetary relief while visitation and school trip numbers remain below normal. Operating Grants also aided partners seeking to implement “hybrid” programming that is simultaneously offered in-person and virtually.

 

See the full list of grants awarded here: https://humanitiesny.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/HNY-SHARP-Operating-Grant-Awards-List.pdf

 

Learn more about HNY: https://humanitiesny.org/