Michigan Humanities is thrilled to celebrate 20 years of Poetry Out Loud (POL) in our state and across the nation. In recognition of this milestone, we’ve invited Michigan POL alumni to share their stories and insight into their experience with the program. Our first...
This blog was written by Monica DeGarmo and her team, Elisa Limon, Gustavo Navarro, B.O.A.T., and Detroit Outdoors. We’ve all heard the phrase, “It takes a village.” This sentiment could not be more true when it comes to pulling off overnight student camping trips! In...
Our Great Michigan Read (GMR) Spring Author Tour is starting next week, and we couldn’t be more excited! Our Director of Programs, Katie Wittenauer, and I, Jennifer Sierra, DEI Coordinator, couldn’t contain our anticipation and decided to attend the One Book, One...
The Arab American National Museum opened the exhibit “Colonial Colonnade" by artist Doris Bittar on November 9. I, Jennifer Sierra, was fortunate to attend the opening reception on November 10 and witness the live music and dance performances by Clarissa Bitar and...
As our Humanities Grant deadline is approaching on September 7, we wanted to compile a list of tips to help you write a compelling project description. With this aim, we asked Michigan Humanities Director of Grants, James Nelson, and the Michigan Arts and Culture...
The Black Bottom Street View is an exhibit by the Black Bottom Archives Project available at the Dequindre Cut Walk in Detroit from June 19 to July 31, 2023. This exhibit presents photos from the former Black Bottom neighborhood, which previously stood on the grounds...
Michigan Humanities started monthly blog posts at the end of 2020 as a way to connect with our community while our programming and events moved to a virtual format. The monthly blog was coordinated by Jennifer Sierra, Michigan Humanities’ Programs Analyst, who is...
At Michigan Humanities, we wanted to compile a list of recommendations of things to do this upcoming winter season—which is something that unites us all in Michigan! Furthermore, we made sure that some of these activities are free and accessible to all. We asked some...
Continuing to honor our 2022 Michigan Humanities Awards recipients, this month we had a conversation with Professor Deborah Vriend Van Duinen, head of the The NEA Big and Little Read Lakeshore program at Hope College. This program has been running for the past 8 years...
This month, we had a conversation with Kimberly Simmons about her work with the Detroit River Project which is running a strong and thoughtful campaign to recognize the Detroit River as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kimberly Simmons is the Executive Director of the...
Michigan Humanities is committed to supporting humanities work in the many ways it takes place throughout our state. Crucial to that support is celebrating the outstanding work that Michigan-based humanities organizations do through our annual Michigan Humanities...
"Come Out! In Detroit" is an ongoing project led by illustrator Isabel Clare Paul and historian Tim Retzloff that brings the story of Michigan’s first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride celebration in June 1972 to life through a fully illustrated, 32-page nonfiction comic book for...
In March 2022, Michigan Humanities’ Board of Directors announced Jennifer Rupp as our organization’s President & CEO. Rupp has been part of the Michigan Humanities team for almost five years and has served as Director of State and Federal Grants, Chief Impact...
The Great Michigan Read Spring Tour is starting with a virtual event on April 5 hosted by the St Clair County Library. Then, Mary Doria Russell will travel for in-person events in the Upper Peninsula and finish out the tour with a virtual event on May 10 (please see...
March 8 is International Women's Day and Michigan Humanities wanted to bring you a very special interview with a very special guest: Leslie McCurdy. Leslie is an actor, solo performer, dancer and mentor, among many other talents! She has been the recipient of...
February is Black History Month and to honor it Michigan Humanities spoke to Humanities Grant recipient, the Black Bottom Archives. This project, led by Director PG Watkins and their team, has worked tirelessly to document and make accessible the history of Detroit's...
Museum on Main Street brings high-quality Smithsonian traveling exhibitions to Main Street museums, historical societies, and other small-town cultural venues across the country. These traveling exhibits are crucial for generating senses of deep historical...
During this holiday season, many of us come together to share food and exchange stories. One of the main principles that Michigan Humanities seeks to promote across our state is 'telling stories.' We believe that telling stories is crucial for making human connections...
November is Native American Heritage Month and to honor the presence and histories of Native Americans in our own state, Michigan Humanities spoke to the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center who recently opened a new exhibit called "The Seventh Fire: A Decolonizing...
Our Poetry Out Loud program is currently welcoming partners for our 2021-2022 season. Poetry Out Loud (POL) is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. By encouraging youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance,...
This blog was written by Julia Irion Martins, our University of Michigan Summer intern. On my second morning in the Keweenaw, I walked from the Thomas Hoatson mansion in Laurium to the buildings of the former Calumet & Hecla mining company, now the Keweenaw...
Michigan Humanities wanted to speak to Shelly Hendrick Kasprzycki before she leaves her post as Michigan Humanities' CEO on September 17. We asked Shelly about her experience leading our organization, what she wanted for our future, and where our community could find...
In the Fall of 2020, the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center was awarded a Humanities grant to carry-out the project called: "Century of Progress: A Timeline of Saugatuck-Douglas LGBTQ History." This project seeks to tell the story of the Saugatuck-Douglas LGBTQ...
On September 10, 2021 Michigan Humanities will honor and celebrate outstanding contributions to the humanities in our state in Mackinaw City, Michigan. We will recognize and celebrate individuals, schools, universities, libraries, community organizations, groups,...
This year, Michigan Humanities had the great opportunity to partner with the Muskegon Community Education Center (MCEC) for our Poetry Out Loud program. Through this partnership we learned about the important work that this Center is doing for supporting Muskegon's...
This month Michigan Humanities spoke to Sonya Bernard-Hollins, a Great Michigan Read and Poetry Out Loud partner, about her ongoing work as a journalist, publisher and founder of the Merze Tate Explorers. The Merze Tate Explorers started in Kalamazoo as an initiative...
March is Women's History Month, and to honor this month Michigan Humanities reached out to our 2019 Humanities Grant awardee: The Center for the Arts of Greater Lapeer. The Center has been working on a play titled "It Happened Here: A Story of the Women’s Suffrage...
Breed & Bootleg: Legends of Flint Rap Music is the new documentary of Dr. Geri Alumit Zeldes, a professor in Michigan State University’s School of Journalism and a long time partner and grantee of Michigan Humanities. We wanted to talk to Geri about her new...
In 2015, the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives became a recipient of the Michigan Humanities Heritage Grant. Michigan Humanities wanted to reconnect with George Bayard III and share some of his experiences as a filmmaker and museum director. George is...
Michigan Humanities is pleased to share our conversation with Joseph Cialdella about his new book, Motor City Green, which dives into the history of urban gardening in Detroit. Joe is part of our Board of Directors and Program Lead for Public Scholarship at the...