Since its creation in 1972, Kentucky Humanities, with the assistance of the National Endowment for the Humanities and private contributions, has supported public humanities programs throughout the Commonwealth.

Public humanities programs include, but are not limited to: conferences, lectures, radio and video productions, exhibits, teacher training and development of curricular materials, interpretive programs for festivals, book discussions, and planning for future projects. These humanities programs should be directed at adults and families, not to the classroom.

The humanities are fields of study primarily concerned with values, ideas, and language, including, but not limited to: history, literature; philosophy; language; linguistics; jurisprudence; archaeology; history and philosophy of art, medicine or science; folklore; religious studies; and those aspects of the social sciences (political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, psychology) which employ a philosophical or historical approach.

In early April 2025, Kentucky Humanities received notice from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that our federal funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) was terminated effective immediately. We are not currently able to offer minigrants EXCEPT for our Museum on Main Street host sites. We hope to offer minigrants again in the future and will post new opportunities here and via social media when they are available.

We urge you to contact your Congress members and show your support for Kentucky Humanities’ work throughout the Commonwealth. Let them know how important Kentucky Humanities programs and minigrants are in your community and urge them to support the NEH and state humanities councils.

Since 1994, Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibitions from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service have been designed specifically for use in small museum settings and in rural communities. MoMS exhibitions are designed to be a spring board for local exhibitions and complementary humanities programming. In 2025 and 2026, Kentucky Humanities is debuting the newest MoMS exhibit. Americans is adapted from an original exhibition developed by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and focuses on four historical events: Thanksgiving, the life of Pocahontas, the Trail of Tears, and the Battle of Little Bighorn. These events infuse both American history and contemporary life. The exhibition shows what is remembered, contested, cherished and denied, and why that still resonates. Objects and images in Americans will help spark unexpected memories of visitors’ perceptions of American Indians.

Museum on Main Street minigrants are intended to provide financial support to MoMS host sites and allow them to create complementary local programming to accompany the exhibit. Examples of prior programming used in MoMS minigrants include: speaker costs, materials for local exhibition display panels, outreach to local schools, docent services, marketing, etc. Host sites are strongly encouraged to apply for the full $2,500 grant award through this expedited application. 

For questions about MoMS program activities, please contact Derek Beaven, derek.beaven@uky.edu
For questions about the grant process and eligibility, please contact Zoe Kaylor, zoe.kaylor@uky.edu

Please note: we will NOT accept applications from site who have not already been selected to be an Americans host site.