Mystic Seaport Receives Major Grant from Connecticut Humanities

Editor’s note: Funding for these grants is provided by money allocated to Connecticut Humanities (CTh) in the 2015-16 state budget. This funding has been eliminated by line-item veto for the 2016-17 fiscal year, resulting in the suspension of the Connecticut Humanities Fund granting program effective July 1, 2016. As a result, this will be the final round of CTh grants funded for the foreseeable future. For additional details, please visit cthumanities.org.

Middletown, Conn. — Connecticut Humanities has announced that ten nonprofit organizations will share more than $175,500 in grant money to support humanities-based programming across the state.

Connecticut Humanities distributes money, allocated by the Connecticut General Assembly, through a competitive, merit-based application process. In southeastern Connecticut, Major Grants will support staff training programs designed to improve visitor experiences at Mystic Seaport and the Joshua and Nathaniel Hempsted Houses in New London.

Connecticut Humanities has awarded the Mystic Seaport a $9,979 grant to establish two training programs for a select group of museum staff. One program will explore the creative process to produce dynamic, innovative interpretive techniques, and the other will encourage the use of evaluation for continuous improvement. This training will provide Seaport staff with critically-needed skills to practice, embrace, evaluate, and refine a wide range of practices to adapt in an era of technological advances and environmental changes.

A $30,000 grant will be used to transform the visitor experience beyond the guided tour, from observation to self-discovery, at three Connecticut Landmarks (CTL) properties: the Joshua and Nathaniel Hempsted Houses in New London, the Butler-McCook House & Garden in Hartford, and the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry. The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience will lead CTL staff in “Dialogue Training to Increase Visitor Engagement." The training prepares and encourages staff to use dialogue rather than the guided tour as the primary means to interact with visitors.

The Shoreline Arts Alliance in Guilford received a $24,872 Connecticut Humanities grant to enrich this summer’s Shakespeare on the Shoreline program on the Guilford Town Green by enabling educational discussions and activities around the performances. In an effort to engage a more diverse and inclusive audience, this year’s project includes performances of Two Gentlemen of Verona and Gulliver’s Travels. The Shoreline Arts Alliance is scheduling a series of forums and pre- and post-show discussions to examine Shakespeare’s plots, characters, and themes in historical context and to explore how they remain relevant in modern society.

The Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven and Westport Country Playhouse also received grants in this round of funding aimed at helping audiences become more engaged with live theater.

The state-wide dance organization, Connecticut Dance Alliance, in partnership with the Connecticut Historical Society, will use a $15,000 grant to develop the “CDA History Project: Dance in Connecticut.” The project aims to capture and share, through the art of photography and scholarly writing, a cultural and historical documentation of the rich and vibrant dance heritage in Connecticut. A portable touring exhibition, "Connecticut Dances: A Moving Journey," is intended to reach new audiences while highlighting the significant impact dance has had on Connecticut’s cultural and artistic identity.

Connecticut Humanities also awarded Major Grants to the Greenwich Historical Society, Goodwin College, Klingberg Family Centers, and the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater New Haven. For more information, http://www.cthumanities.org.