Alaska Humanities Forum to distribute emergency funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support Alaska’s cultural organizations

The Alaska Humanities Forum is in a unique position as a recipient of grants, donations, and federal funding and also as a funder of public humanities programs and projects across Alaska.  In both roles, the statewide nonprofit organization is experiencing the impact of COVID-related closures and cancellations firsthand, seeking ways to adapt and innovate its own programming and also looking for ways to support partners across the state by providing essential funding.

A portion of the $75 million received by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the CARES Act economic stabilization plan will go directly to the 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils to assist affected cultural institutions and organizations.  As Alaska’s state humanities council, the Alaska Humanities Forum is honored to distribute and administer Alaska’s share of funding for emergency-relief grants for local cultural nonprofits to be used for sustaining operational expenses.

“The Alaska Humanities Forum’s vision is a culturally diverse, economically vibrant, and equitable Alaska where people are engaged, informed, and connected,” explains its President and CEO Kameron Perez-Verdia. “During times of uncertainty and crisis, our immediate priorities may shift, but our prevailing vision remains steadfast. The Forum is honored to be able to play a role in ensuring that organizations across the state dedicated to preserving and sharing our unique cultures and history and to engaging people in civic dialogue and meaningful conversation remain solvent.”

The Forum is grateful to Alaska’s congressional delegation for its support of this funding and also to the NEH for working to ensure that these vital funds reach “large and small cultural organizations, as well as educators, curators, scholars, filmmakers, and other humanists” through its partnership with the state humanities councils and also through its own direct grants “to help sustain the $878-billion arts and cultural economic sector, which accounts for 4.5 percent of our nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).”