MINNESOTA HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL GRANTS - Grants Program Overview
Where the Money Came From
When Minnesota voters passed the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, the state legislature created the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (H.F. 1231), a portion of which was appropriated to the Minnesota Historical Society for history-related projects around the state. One of those new initiatives is the Statewide Historical and Cultural Grants program, seeded by a pool of $6.75 million to be awarded in the 2010-11 biennium for "projects of enduring value for the cause of history and historic preservation."
The new grants program took shape over the summer of 2009. At meetings held across the state, more than 150 representatives of county and local historical organizations offered their input on how to use the special legislative funding most effectively. Among the most popular aspects of the proposed grant guidelines: a range of grant sizes and the potential for partnerships.
"This grant program will be a benchmark in its potential to reshape the future for local history and historic preservation in Minnesota," says Britta Bloomberg, head of the Minnesota History Society Historic Preservation Department. "What we do in the first biennium will set the stage for ongoing funding of an initiative that has a 25-year span."
On other pages you will find information on eligibility, grant categories, funding levels, review criteria, and deadlines.
Help is Available
Staff of the Minnesota Historical Society's Local History Services Office stand ready to help you with your application. They will offer technical advice in their areas of expertise, help you decide what to apply for, and advise you on shaping your application. For assistance call or e-mail:
- Museum administration and interpretation:
David Grabitske, 651-259-3460; david.grabitske@mnhs.org - Collections management and general grants questions:
Melinda Hutchinson, 651-259-3459; melinda.hutchinson@mnhs.org - Archives and library materials, social networking, web:
Joe Hoover, 651-259-3461; joseph.hoover@mnhs.org - Conservation (museum/archives/library):
Bob Herskovitz, 651-259-3465; bob.herskovitz@mnhs.org - Historic preservation and grants administration:
Mandy Skypala, 651-259-3458; mandy.skypala@mnhs.org - Historic preservation:
Natascha Wiener (historical architect), 651-259-3462; natascha.wiener@mnhs.org - Digitization projects:
Marian Rengel, outreach coordinator with the Minnesota Digital Library
320-308-5625; mrrengel@stcloudstate.edu.
Historic Resources Advisory Committee
Minnesota History Coalition Partners
Statewide Update and Input Meetings
- Statewide update and input meetings were held in July 2009.
- Read a summary of the meetings.
- View a PDF of the slides from the presentation.
Report to the Legislature
On January 15, the Society released its first report to the Legislature and Governor on activities carried out with support from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund in this first year of the Fund's existence. Due to the short amount of time since the passage of the first legacy appropriation bill, we consider this first report to be an interim or progress report. Society staff members have dedicated many, many hours to planning and implementing educational programs, grants and partnerships to deliver Minnesota history across the state, at the History Center, at historic sites and via the latest forms of technology.
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