Grant Awarded: April 2005

Type of Grant: Humanities Project Grant

Sponsor: Grand Rapids Area Council for the Humanities

Contact: Cheryl Van Til, 616-774-1776, grhuman@gvsu.edu

Award: $27,000

The Michigan Humanities Council today announces the awarding of a $27,000 grant to the Grand Rapids Area Council for the Humanities (GRACH) for the project, Landmarks of Grand Rapids. The project will include a new oral history project, poetry workshop with new Landmark poems, a “Milestones” series of discussions about World War II, and book discussions. The grant is part of the Council’s “Strengthening Michigan's Communities Through the Humanities” program which emphasizes collaboration among cultural, educational and community-based organizations and institutions to serve Michiganians with public humanities projects and programs.

“We are pleased to fund a public humanities program that incorporates so many interactive activities that relate to the rich culture and history of Grand Rapids,” stated Jan Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council. “Landmarks of Grand Rapids will successfully record the oral histories of Grand Rapids and encourage residents to share their stories and attend public humanities events.”

The primary objectives of Landmarks of Grand Rapids are to preserve the cultural memory that surrounds significant physical and cultural landmarks in the Grand Rapids area; encourage residents to share their landmarks through a public screening of oral history materials; promote poetry and book discussions to help celebrate and understand the landmarks; promote dialogue about how common landmarks can strengthen the community through mutual understanding and respect. New humanities resources will be created from this project, including training materials on how to collect oral histories and a DVD recording and screening the histories.

Oral history recording and screening. From May through July 2005, a group of individuals trained in the collection of oral histories will interview 12 local residents to gather oral histories for inclusion on the DVD. Grand Rapids’ Community Media Center will be involved in recording the digital interviews. In August and September 2005, the Community Media Center will work with GRACH to edit and create the DVD. In February 2006, the oral history DVD will be screened to the public at the Wealthy Street Theater in Grand Rapids; after screening, approximately 1,000 copies of the oral history DVD will be available for sale.

Book and media discussion. From September through November 2005, three series of book and media discussion will be led by local scholars and will take place at Aquinas College. The themes of the discussions will be:

• “Life Journey with Books,” featuring books whose characters deal with landmark events in their lives;
• “Biography,” featuring books with historical figures as cultural landmarks; and,
• “Milestones,” which will consider how World War II has been portrayed in film, fiction and non-fiction.

Poetry workshops and readings. In August and September 2005, The Poet Laureate of Grand Rapids will also conduct a “Landmarks” poetry workshop and preside at a public reading of the poems that are produced. These events will occur at the Public Museum of Grand Rapids.

"The Grand Rapids Area Council for the Humanities is honored to be the recipient of such a generous grant from the Michigan Humanities Council,” stated Cheryl Van Til, executive director of the Grand Rapids Area Council for the Humanities. “We are very excited to begin our series of programs that will encourage our community's residents to remember and discuss 'landmark' places and events and how they affected all of our lives. We are thrilled to be collaborating with several other arts and culture organizations and are pleased that the Michigan Humanities Council understands the importance of giving our residents this opportunity to record and preserve our collective memory."

“The Michigan Humanities Council helps Michigan communities preserve our state’s unique culture and heritage,” stated U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow. “I commend the Council and this important local community project."

"I have great confidence that the grant award to the Grand Rapids Area Council for the Humanities will be put to great use to connect the people of Grand Rapids to their history by looking at how the area's landmarks have affected our lives," said Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers. "The support from
Congress to the Michigan Humanities Council for culture and heritage projects is important to help us understand the impact of our past on our present and future."