MISSOURI HUMANITIES COUNCIL

MISSOURI HUMANITIES OFFERED 197 LIVE AND ASYNCHRONOUS COUNCIL-CONDUCTED PROGRAMS IN 2024, ENGAGING 119,627 PARTICIPANTS. 90 SUBRECIPIENT-CONDUCTED ACTIVITIES TOOK PLACE WITH 387,636 PARTICIPANTS. 507,263 TOTAL MISSOURIANS WERE SERVED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. GRANTSMAJOR GRANTS ARE AWARDED TO HUMANITIES-BASED PROPOSALS TWICE YEARLY FOR UP TO $15,000. MINI GRANTS ARE OFFERED TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FOR PROJECTS OF UP TO $5,000. IN FY24, MH RECEIVED 196 GRANT APPLICATIONS. 97 PROPOSALS WERE FULLY OR PARTIALLY FUNDED FOR A TOTAL OF $835,765.05. 90 GRANT-FUNDED PROGRAMS WERE HELD IN FY24, SERVING 387,636 PEOPLE.SIGNATURE SERIESWE PROMOTE PUBLIC DIALOGUE THROUGH SCHOLARLY LECTURES, SYMPOSIA, INTERPRETIVE EXHIBITS, AND INTERACTIVE EVENTS. OUR SIGNATURE SERIES IN 2024 WAS MISSOURI MARVELS: HUMANITIES, DISCOVERY, AND INNOVATION. WE EXPLORED THE POSSIBILITIES OF HUMAN PROGRESS AND CULTURAL EVOLUTION. THROUGH IN-PERSON PUBLIC PROGRAMMING AND DIGITAL CONTENT, WE JOURNEYED THROUGH HISTORY TO SHOWCASE MISSOURI TRAILBLAZERS AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS, ILLUMINATE THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF DISCOVERY AND INNOVATION, AND NAVIGATE THE COMPLEXITIES AND CHALLENGES OF AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD. 577 INDIVIDUALS JOINED US IN PERSON FOR SIX TENT-POLE SIGNATURE SERIES PROGRAMS. MISSOURI HUMANITIES ALSO PRODUCED SEVEN EPISODES OF THE MISSOURI MARVELS PODCAST, WHICH WAS DOWNLOADED 810 TIMES. MISSOURI HUMANITIES PRODUCED THE SHORT DOCUMENTARY FROM GRAIN TO GLORY: MISSOURI'S SLICED BREAD SAGA, WHICH HAD 3026 VIEWS.CULTURAL HERITAGEOUR HERITAGE PROGRAMS PROMOTE MISSOURI'S RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE AND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE. WE OFFERED 25 UNIQUE PROGRAMS, INCLUDING SCHOLAR PANELS, CULTURAL HERITAGE WORKSHOPS, AND TRAVELING EXHIBITS REACHING OVER 14,000 MISSOURIANS. WE ALSO HOSTED IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL CAPACITY-BUILDING WORKSHOPS FOR CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE STATE, REACHING AN AVERAGE OF 52 ATTENDEES PER WORKSHOP.VETERANS PROGRAMSTO AMPLIFY VETERAN VOICES AND EXPERIENCES, MH HOSTED THREE VETERANS WRITING WORKSHOPS, CO-HOSTED MILITARY SERVICE/LITERARY SOLACE: A CONVERSATION WITH VETERAN WRITERS PANEL DISCUSSION, CO-PUBLISHED PROUD TO BE: WRITINGS BY AMERICAN WARRIORS, VOLUME 12, AND PRESENTED A PROUD TO BE READING AND ROUNDTABLE. THROUGH THESE PROGRAMS, WE ENGAGED 264 VETERANS, MILITARY-CONNECTED FAMILY MEMBERS, AND CIVILIANS.DIGITAL PROGRAMMINGMISSOURI HUMANITIES PROUDLY OFFERS MULTIPLE WAYS TO ENGAGE WITH HUMANITIES-BASED CONTENT FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME OR ON THE GO. FROM FILMS, VIDEO SERIES, PODCASTS, AND RECORDED PROGRAMS, TUNE IN TO EXPERIENCE A VARIETY OF STORIES ABOUT PEOPLE, PLACES, AND IDEAS ROOTED IN THE HUMANITIES. IN FY24, WE EXPERIENCED 40,300 VIDEO VIEWS WITH 2,400 HOURS WATCHED. 3,700 PODCASTS WERE DOWNLOADED. OUR PODCASTS HELP US REACH MORE PEOPLE BY PROVIDING HIGH-QUALITY, ENGAGING STORIES THAT LISTENERS CAN ENJOY ANYWHERE, ANYTIME. EACH YEAR, WE PRODUCE NEW EPISODES OF OUR MISSOURI HUMANITIES SIGNATURE SERIES PODCAST AND THE SMALL TOWN SHOWCASE PODCAST. IN 2024, WE PRODUCED FIVE MORE SMALL TOWN SHOWCASE EPISODES AND 5 SIGNATURE SERIES EPISODES. IN TOTAL, OUR PODCASTS RECEIVED OVER 3,700 DOWNLOADS AND MAINTAINED 119 SUBSCRIBERS. IN SMALL TOWN SHOWCASE, WE STRIVE TO HIGHLIGHT THE UNIQUENESS OF RURAL MISSOURI AND TO SHOWCASE THE BIGGER PICTURE OF WHAT SMALL-TOWN AMERICA REALLY IS AND WHY IT SHOULDN'T BE OVERLOOKED, OVERSHADOWED, OR UNDERAPPRECIATED. EACH YEAR, COMMUNITIES WITH POPULATIONS UNDER 10,000 ARE NOMINATED AND VOTED ON BY MISSOURIANS TO BECOME OUR ANNUAL "FEATURED FIVE" COMMUNITIES, WHO THEN WORK WITH US THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO PRODUCE A PODCAST EPISODE AND SHORT FILM ABOUT THEIR TOWN. IN 2024, OUR FEATURED FIVE WERE AURORA, ALBANY, CARROLLTON, MARCELINE, AND PACIFIC. 2024 SAW OUR FIRST FULL YEAR OF LAUNCHING HUMANITIES TV (H-TV). H-TV IS MISSOURI HUMANITIES' STREAMING PLATFORM'S CURATED COLLECTION OF FILMS, DOCU-SERIES, AND OTHER DIGITAL STORYTELLING PROJECTS TO CONNECT VIEWS WITH STORIES, PEOPLE, AND PLACES ROOTED IN THE HUMANITIES. CONTENT ON H-TV INCLUDES PROJECTS PRODUCED BY MISSOURI HUMANITIES, LIKE SMALL TOWN SHOWCASE AND SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILMS, AS WELL AS CONTENT FROM OTHER CREATORS WHO STRIVE TO SHARE STORIES THROUGH FILM. WE ENDED THE YEAR WITH 1,412 SUBSCRIBERS AND 66 FEATURED PROJECTS FROM 18 DIFFERENT CREATORS.LITERARY PROGRAMSMORE THAN 2,000 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN OUR SECOND ANNUAL HEARTLAND BOOK FESTIVAL, PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE KANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY. THE FESTIVAL FEATURED LOCAL AND NATIONAL AUTHORS, PUBLISHERS, AND BOOKSTORES THROUGH AUTHOR TALKS, PANEL DISCUSSIONS, BOOK SIGNINGS, WORKSHOPS, AND BOOKCENTRIC VENDORS. AS THE MISSOURI CENTER FOR THE BOOK, MH REPRESENTED MISSOURI LITERATURE WITH TWO BOOK SELECTIONS AT THE 24TH ANNUAL LIBRARY OF CONGRESS'S NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL IN WASHINGTON, D.C.SPEAKERS BUREAUWE PARTNER WITH THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI TO PROVIDE A CATALOG OF 45 EXPERT HISTORIANS, STORYTELLERS, AND SCHOLARS TO GIVE IN-PERSON PRESENTATIONS ABOUT MISSOURI'S CULTURE, HISTORY, ART, AND PEOPLE TO AUDIENCES ACROSS THE STATE. IN FY24, A TOTAL OF 147 PRESENTATIONS WERE HELD ACROSS THE STATE.