A Reading Wyoming book discussion group discusses Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums on the lawn of the Wyoming Humanities Council.
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The Wyoming Humanities Council staff is available to answer questions and offer assistance to grant writers at any time. We strongly recommend you submit a draft and work closely with Jenny Ingram to complete your application. jingram@uwyo.edu or 307-721-9247
Application forms and instructions are available in the "forms" section of this website. Please note that WHC recently updated application forms. New: We now require a DUNS number from all applicants. Please also note that WHC no longer offers matching funds.
The Wyoming Humanities Council's board of directors annually gives more than $80,000 in grants to non-profit groups and government agencies throughout Wyoming to pursue humanities projects of their own design.
Any nonprofit organization or public agency in Wyoming may apply for council funding. Nonprofits outside Wyoming whose programs serve the people of Wyoming are also eligible. Grants are not awarded to individuals.
The humanities must be central to the project and a humanities professional must be integrally involved in the planning and development of the project.
The humanities
According to the 1965 National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, "The term 'humanities' includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life."
Humanities professionals
The council defines a humanities professional as someone with an advanced degree in a humanities discipline who is currently working in (or retired from) that field. We will also consider people who might not hold an advanced degree but who have advanced training, acquired expertise, or an established reputation in a humanities discipline, such as tribal elders. All projects except planning grants must include a public element and must be free (or provided at a reasonable charge) and open to the public, and advertised as such.
All application deadlines are postmark deadlines.
Regular Grants: $2,001-$10,000
Deadlines: April 1 for programs starting June 1 or later, and October 1 for programs starting December 1 or later. Reviewed by the Grants Committee. Applicants are notified of council's decision approximately six weeks after deadline.
Mini Grants: up to $2,000
Deadlines: first working day of each month except July, for programs starting on or after the 15th of the following month. Reviewed monthly by council committee. Applicants are notified of committee's decision approximately three weeks after deadline.
Planning Grants: up to $2,000
Provide funds for travel and meeting expenses of humanities professionals and others involved in planning content and format of larger humanities projects. Deadlines: first working day of each month except July, for programs starting on or after the first of the following month. Reviewed monthly by council committee. Applicants are notified of committee's decision approximately three weeks after deadline.
Opportunity Grants: up to $750 for speaker or discussion leader expenses in public humanities programs
Deadlines: must be in WHC office at least two weeks before proposed program. Provide funds for programs that seize an unforeseen opportunity, such as speakers whose presence in the state could not be anticipated in time to meet the deadline for a mini-grant application, or humanities programming related to an unexpected local, national, or international event. Opportunity grants are not meant to take the place of mini-grants and are not intended for use to help defray the costs of annual events or events with enough lead time to apply for a mini-grant. An organization is limited to one opportunity grant per year. Reviewed throughout the year by WHC board president and grants committee chair. Applicants are notified within seven working days of proposal's arrival in WHC office.
