Seventeen recipients throughout the state receive grant awards
(LITTLE ROCK) – Arkansas Heritage recognized recipients of Small Museum and Arkansas Heritage grants today at its headquarters in Little Rock. These grant programs provide awards to Arkansas’s small history museums, historical societies, historic houses and sites, and military museums. For this grant cycle, Arkansas Heritage awarded $55,600 to 17 recipients from across the state.
“These grant programs provide funds to help promote education, awareness and enjoyment of Arkansas history,” said Shea Lewis, director of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. “Our hope is that these funds will enrich current programs and provide inspiration for future activities, continuing to build momentum and energy.”
The Small Museum Grant Program aims to increase the ability of community-based small museums/organizations to research, preserve, present and conserve Arkansas history.
Eligible organizations must have an annual operating budget of $250,000 or less; must have a staff of at least one person, either paid or volunteer; and must be open to the public at least 90 days per year. Eligible activities include building and grounds maintenance, operating costs, equipment purchases up to $1,000, accessioning of artifact collections, educational programming, research, exhibits, and website design and maintenance. The maximum grant award is $2,500.
This year’s recipients include:
- Altus Historical Society, Altus Heritage House Museum Operations, $2,500
- Calico Rock Community Foundation, Inc., Calico Rock Museum Operating Grant, $2,500
- Cleburne County Historical Society, Printing and Mailing Quarterly Journal, $2,500
- Cross County Historical Society, Replacement of Awning, $2,500
- Hardy History Association, Utilities, $2500
- Fort Smith Historical Society, Fort Smith Historical Society Website, $2,500
- Hardy History Association, Utilities, $2,500
- Henry Clay Yerger High School Museum, Utilities, $2,500
- Little Rock Air Force Base Historical Foundation, Museum Uniform Display Cases, $2,500
- Mississippi County Historical and Genealogical Society, $2,500
- Pope County Historical Foundation, Modern Display of First Ladies’ Dress Replicas, $2,500
- Saunders Memorial Museum, Utilities, $2,500
To learn more about the application process for Small Museum grants, visit HERE. The deadline for the next cycle of grant applications is Oct. 18, 2024.
“Arkansas’s small museums and historical organizations play a vital role in preserving places and items that have shaped Arkansas’s history,” said Marty Ryall, director of Arkansas Heritage. “These grants provide funds that help them to continue to tell the story of our shared heritage.”
The Arkansas Heritage Grants Program aims to help community-based and non-profit groups create programs that promote awareness and enjoyment of Arkansas’s heritage, and to make heritage-related programs possible where they would not otherwise occur. In evaluating Arkansas Heritage Grant applications, the organization’s relationship to the community, its mission and sources of income, the impact of the project and the degree to which it will foster heritage tourism development are taken into consideration in addition to other criteria.
This year’s recipients include:
- Dunbar Historic Neighborhood Association, Decade of Distinction: 10thAnniversary Celebration, $4,400
- E. Fay Jones Conservancy, A Modern Look at Fay Jones’ Faubus House, $5,000
- Historic Cane Hill, Cane Hill Harvest Festival, $4,800
- Main Street Paris, Paris History Walk, $4,800
- Quality of Life Outreach, Arkansas Roots, $5,000
- Sugarloaf Memories Corp, Celebrating Sugarloaf Township and the Legacy of Life Before the Lake, $4,100
Photos of today’s event are available HERE.
To learn more about the application process for the Arkansas Heritage Grants, visit HERE. The deadline for the next cycle of grant applications is March 14, 2025.
For more information about the Small Museum Grants Program or the Arkansas Heritage Grants Program, please contact Debra Fithen, grants manager for Arkansas Heritage, at [email protected] or call 501-324-9150.
