Grants

Championing the humanities across a state as diverse as Maryland requires many contributors and much collaboration. That’s where our Marilyn Hatza Memorial SHINE Grant Program comes in: Strengthening the Humanities Investment in Nonprofits for Equity

Maryland Humanities’ grants program funds general operating support to humanities nonprofits in Maryland. We have been actively adjusting our grant practices over the past few years with a focus on equity and accessibility. Since 2020, we’ve had the opportunity to award $1.425 million in COVID-relief funds–all as general operating support grants. With the Marilyn Hatza Memorial SHINE Grant Program, Maryland Humanities takes the next step in our grantmaking evolution and aims to lower barriers and provide funding in a more equitable way to organizations statewide. Thank you to the State of Maryland via the Maryland Historical Trust for providing the Hatza SHINE seed money and helping to invest in a healthier humanities landscape statewide.

Previously known as SHINE Grant Program, Maryland Humanities has renamed it the Marilyn Hatza SHINE Grant Program. It only felt right to pay tribute to Maryland Humanities’ late Director of Grants and Community Engagement, Marilyn Hatza, in this way. She was central to the creation of this program, and much of Maryland Humanities’ other racial equity work.

Congratulations 2024 Hatza Memorial SHINE Grant recipients!

The Hatza Memorial SHINE FY24 funding application closed on September 1, 2023. Thank you to every organization who applied! We awarded 95 General Operating Support grants worth $10,000. A list of awarded organizations by county is available below. Please check back here for updates about FY25 funding in Spring 2024.

Goals of the Marilyn Hatza Memorial SHINE Grant Program

  • Continue and expand general operating support funding, awarding $950,000 in grants.
  • Focus on small and mid‐size humanities, arts, cultural, and educational nonprofits that may not have staff capacity or resources to be competitive in fundraising.
  • Ensure a broad geographic reach, similar to what we were able to realize from our COVID‐relief grants, which funded organizations in all 23 of Maryland’s counties, plus Baltimore City.
  • Continue to refine lessons learned on how to evaluate applicants and distribute funds equitably, while ensuring accountability and responsible fiscal stewardship.
  • Convene annual cohorts of grantees in new networks of engagement and common purpose to amplify the state’s investment, strengthening both the organizations and communities.

The application period closed on September 1, 2023.

FY24 Grant Recipients by County

  • Allegany County

    Allegany Museum

    Emmanuel Episcopal Church

    Evergreen Heritage Center Foundation

    Historic Frostburg, a Maryland Main Street Community

  • Anne Arundel County

    Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation

    Captain Avery Museum

    Chesapeake Children’s Museum

    Lost Towns Project

  • Baltimore City

    Baltimore Architecture Foundation

    Baltimore Heritage

    CHARM: Voices of Baltimore Youth (Fund for Educational Excellence)

    CityLit Project

    Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center

    Friends of 612-614 S. Wolfe Street

    Friends of President Street Station 

    Greenmount Senior Center

    Komite Ayiti

    Makeup Museum

    Maryland Museums Association

    Maryland Women’s Heritage Center

    Mount Clare Museum House

    Moving History

    Writers in Baltimore Schools

    Muse 360 Arts

    Raymond Banks ‘A Way With Words’ Foundation

    Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures

    Yellow Arrow Publishing Co.

  • Baltimore County

    Baltimore Association of Nepalese in America

    Baltimore County Historical Society, Inc. (dba Historical Society of Baltimore County)

    Maryland Lynching Memorial Project 

    NeighborSpace of Baltimore County

    Sisterhood Agenda

    Todd’s Inheritance Historic Site

  • Calvert County

    Bayside History Museum

    Launching Educational Assistance Program Forward (LEAP) Forward

  • Carroll County

    Downtown Sykesville Connection

    Historical Society of Carroll County Maryland

    The Union Mills Homestead

  • Cecil County

    Historical Society of Cecil County

  • Charles County

    Farm Heritage Conservancy

    The Historical Society of Charles County

    Life Journeys Writers Club

  • Dorchester County

    Dorchester County Historical Society

    Groove City Black Heritage & Culture Group

    Harrisville Malone Cemetery Maintenance Fund

    Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance (NHPA)

  • Frederick County

    African-American Resources Cultural Heritage Society (AARCH)

    Catoctin Furnace Historical Society

    City Youth Matrix

    Global Z Recording Project

    Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area

    Maryland Foreign Language Association

    Women Solve

  • Garrett County

    Garrett County Historical Society

    Mountain Lake Park Historical Association

  • Harford County

    Harmer’s Town Art Center

    The Havre de Grace Colored School Museum and Cultural Center

    The Havre Grace Maritime Museum

    Hosanna Community House (dba Hosanna School Museum)

    Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway

  • Howard County

    Chinese American Parent Association of Howard County

    Cultura Plenera

    Howard County Historical Society

    Indian Cultural Association of Howard County

    Korean Culture and Art of MD

    League of Korean Americans

  • Kent County

    G.A.R. Post #25 (Sumner Hall)

  • Montgomery County

    Bethesda Historical Society

    The Civic Circle

    Docs in Progress

    The Giving Square

    Sugarland Ethno History Project

  • Prince George's County

    Bold Beautiful Brilliant Girls Youth Empowerment Group

    Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts

    EducArte

    Fuel Incorporated

    National Capital Radio and Television Museum

    National Museum of Language

  • Queen Anne's County

    Grasonville Community Center

    Kennard Alumni Association

    Touchstones Discussion Project

  • Somerset County

    Somerset County Historical Society

  • St. Mary's County

    Friends of the St. Clement’s Island and Piney Point Museums

    Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions

  • Talbot County

    Chesapeake Film Festival

    Mid-Shore Community Foundation – Bellevue Passage Museum

    St. Michaels Museum

    The Water’s Edge Museum

  • Washington County

    Camp Ritchie Museum

    Urban Rural Action

  • Wicomico County

    Eleven 21

  • Worcester County

    Beach to Bay Heritage Area

    Berlin Heritage Foundation

    Delmarva Discovery Center & Museum

    Furnace Town Foundation

  • “This Maryland Humanities grant is absolutely vital to the mission of our non-profit organization devoted to archaeological research and public education. Simply put, we could not have carried out our ambitious exhibit projects without this much-appreciated support. Maryland Humanities has enabled us to share meaningful stories and engage audiences in innovative and creative ways. The platform they have provided strengthens our organization and the community we serve. Thank you!”

    Lost Towns Project, Inc., Major Grant recipient, Anne Arundel County
  • “It is difficult to properly express our gratitude to Maryland Humanities for the help and support that we received through the grant-making process and through the project. The grant was crucial to the success of the project, and instrumental in bringing the poet (and 2016 MacArthur Fellow) Claudia Rankine to our campus. As the author of “Citizen: An America Lyric,” Rankine’s powerful reading and discussion of her work provided the anchor for our programming about public education and the role it plays in shaping the political citizen… (Maryland Humanities staff) were a constant source of encouragement and support–and we are proud to have been one of the projects that it recognized this year.”

    Dr. Kimberly Coles ~ Chair, Education and Citizenship Project Committee, University of Maryland College Park
  • “We have truly enjoyed every funding experience with Maryland Humanities – mostly because it feels like a collaborative relationship. The staff at (Maryland Humanities) is very helpful when preparing grant proposals and reports, and we love seeing (Maryland Humanities) administrators attending our performances and other programming.”

    Center Stage, Humanities Fund for Baltimore grantee, Baltimore City
  • “Funding from the Maryland Humanities to distribute our first publication allowed Wide Angle Youth Media to expand our reach and share youth voice in a way we have never done before. With your support, this project has not only been successful in programmatic outcomes, but has inspired and empowered young people, giving them the platform to become published artists and share their voices in our city and beyond.”

    Wide Angle Youth Media, Humanities Fund for Baltimore grantee, Baltimore City
  • “Without support from Maryland Humanities, we never could have put together an exhibit and programming at this scale. This support allowed us to cover many more writers, artists and musicians in the exhibit than we otherwise could have done. It enabled us to offer at lease 50 percent more programming than we could have done on our own. The funds also enabled us to promote the exhibit and programs to a wider market. Furthermore, knowing there was a chance for this grant to be awarded, we felt able to apply for (even more) support from the local cultural arts board… We are enormously grateful.”

    Carol Allen, Director for the Library & Hays-Heighe House, Harford Community College, Major Grant recipient
  • “We had a great experience working with Maryland Humanities. Your team was very hands on, provided clear guidelines and seemed glad to assist us throughout our process. Thank you so much for the support we received to carry out our event and do much needed social justice work in our city.”

    New Lens, Humanities Fund for Baltimore grantee
  • “It is difficult to properly express our gratitude to Maryland Humanities for the help and support that we received through the grant-making process and through the project…The support of (Maryland Humanities) was not in funding alone. By including a spot about the initiative in (their) Humanities Connection program on WYPR, Maryland Humanities did much to help promote our initiative and alert the general public about the program that we were running in the early months of the fall.”

    Dr. Kimberly Coles ~ Chair, Education and Citizenship Project Committee, University of Maryland College Park
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