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SHARP Recovery Grants Fund

As part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) received an additional $135 million in supplemental funding to distribute as emergency relief to support economic recovery for cultural institutions adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Through this effort, Maryland Humanities was allocated $910,000 to distribute to non-profit organizations that provide opportunities for Maryland’s communities to access and engage with public history, cultural heritage, and civic learning during this continued unprecedented time.

After receiving and reviewing over 140 applications, Maryland Humanities awarded $10,000 grants to 91 organizations across the state of Maryland.

Below is a list of the organizations that were selected to receive general operating support grants through the SHARP Recovery Fund. This effort was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities as legislated in the American Rescue Plan of 2021 enacted by the U.S. Congress.

For questions, email our grants team at SHARP@mdhumanities.org.

Did your organization receive a SHARP recovery grant?

Final reports for all SHARP Recovery grants are due on June 30th, 2022. These can be completed through our grants portal, accessible in the link below.

Grant Recipients By County

  • Allegany County
    Allegany Museum

    Cumberland Theatre

    Evergreen Heritage Center Foundation

    Frostburg Museum Association, Inc.

    Historic Frostburg, a Maryland Main Street Community, Inc.

  • Anne Arundel County
    Captain Avery Museum

    Chesapeake Children’s Museum

    Friends of the Rising Sun Inn

    Galesville Community Center

    Lost Towns Project, Inc.

  • Baltimore City
    CHARM: Voices of Baltimore Youth

    CityLit Project

    Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center

    Maryland Women’s Heritage Center

    Mid-Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive

    Muse 360 Arts

    New Lens

    Poe Baltimore

    Raymond Banks ‘A Way With Words’ Foundation

    Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures, Inc.

    Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Association, Inc.

    Writers in Baltimore Schools

  • Baltimore County
    Baltimore County Historical Society, Inc.

    Friends of Jerusalem Mill

    Maryland Lynching Memorial Project

    Preservation Alliance of Baltimore County

    Sisterhood Agenda, Inc.

    Writing Hearts, Inc.

  • Calvert County
    Bayside History Museum

    Friends of Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum

  • Carroll County
    Downtown Sykesville Connection, Inc.

    Union Mills Homestead Foundation, Inc.

  • Cecil County
    Historical Society of Cecil County

    Women’s Civic League of North East

  • Charles County
    Farm Heritage Conservancy

    Friends of Maxwell Hall Inc

    Life Journeys Writers Club

    Maryland Veterans Museum at Patriot Park

    Neighborhood Creative Arts Center

    Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco

  • Dorchester County
    Alpha Genesis Community Development Corporation

    Dorchester County Historical Society

    Groove City Black Heritage & Culture Group Inc.

    Richardson Maritime Museum, Inc.

  • Frederick County
    African-American Resources Cultural Heritage Society (AARCH)

    Brunswick Potomac Foundation, Inc.

    Catoctin Furnace Historical Society

    Frederick County Landmarks Foundation

    Global Z Recording Project

  • Garrett County
    Garrett Lakes Arts Festival
  • Harford County
    The Friends of the Concord Point Lighthouse

    The Havre de Grace Colored School Museum and Cultural Center, Inc.

    The Historical Society of Harford County, Inc.

    Hosanna Community House, Inc.

    Susquehanna Museum of Havre de Grace, Inc.

  • Kent County
    Eastern Shore Heritage, Inc.

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

    Historical Society of Kent County, Inc.

  • Montgomery County
    Chevy Chase Historical Society

    Docs In Progress

    Menare Foundation, Inc.

    Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation, Ltd.

    Sugarland Ethno History Project, Inc.

    Warren Historic Site Committee, Inc.

  • Prince George's County
    Bold Beautiful Brilliant Girls Youth Empowerment Group

    Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, Inc.

    EducArte, Incorporated

    Laurel Historical Society

    National Capital Radio and Television Museum

    National Museum of Language

    Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center

    Prince George’s County Historical Society, Inc.

  • Somerset County
    Crisfield Heritage Foundation

    Somerset County Historical Society

  • St. Mary's County
    Friends of St. Clement’s Island and Piney Point Museums

    St. Mary’s County Historical Society

  • Talbot County
    Oxford Museum

    Talbot Historical Society

    Tilghman Waterman’s Museum

    Waters Edge Museum

  • Washington County
    Boonsboro Historical Society

    Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc.

    Doleman Black Heritage Museum, Inc.

    Friends of Tolson’s Chapel

    Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum, Inc.

    Washington County Historical Society

  • Worcester County
    Beach to Bay Heritage Area, Inc.

    Berlin Heritage Foundation, Inc.

    Delmarva Discovery Center & Museum, Inc.

    Friends of the Julia A. Purnell Museum

    Furnace Town Foundation

  • Grant Guidelines
    General Information

    No matching funds are required.

    Grants will be available to non-profit organizations located in Maryland that provide humanities programming as a significant part of their mission and that are facing financial hardship due to COVID-19.

    Grants are for general operating expenses. These include salaries, professional development, rent, utilities, supplies, programs, and equipment.

    Process

    No Letter of Intent Is Required For This Application

    Application Opened: September 15, 2021

    Application Deadline: September 30, 2021, 11:59 p.m.

    Award Date: October 29th, 2021

     

    All applications will be evaluated after the close of the application period. Therefore, all applications submitted before the September 30th deadline will be evaluated equally.

     

    Eligibility Criteria

    To be eligible for a Maryland Humanities SHARP Grant, an organization must:

    Offer humanities programming to Marylanders as a significant part of its mission. The humanities include disciplines such as history, literature, film studies, art criticism, and philosophy.

    Be a nonprofit organization

    Be physically located in Maryland and have Maryland residents as its primary audience.

    Have a maximum total annual budget of $300,000.

    Be experiencing or expect to experience financial hardship due to the effects of COVID-19 (examples include, but are not limited to, staffing cutbacks or reduction in work hours, suspension of programming or activities, or loss of revenue).

    Obtain and retain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number from Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. (D&B), which uniquely identifies business entities. A DUNS number may be obtained from D&B by telephone at 866.705.5711 or by clicking here to register online or to look up your organization’s number. You need not have your DUNS number at the time of application.

    Those not eligible for funding include:

    Individuals

    For-profit organizations

    Organizations with annual operating budgets of more than $300,000

    Organizations solely focused on the creation or performance of art

    Political or advocacy organizations

    Government agencies and libraries

    Universities, colleges, and academic departments

    K-12 institutions

    Restrictions

    Activities not supported by this grant include:

    Promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view

    Advocacy of a particular program of social or political action

    Support of specific public policies or legislation

    Lobbying

    Purchase of land or facilities, construction, or renovation

    Funding Priorities

    General operating support for humanities, heritage, and cultural organizations that have been financially impacted by COVID-19

    Support organizations throughout all regions of the state

    For questions, email our grants team at SHARP@mdhumanities.org.

Special thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities for providing funding for the SHARP Recovery Grant through the American Rescue Plan of 2021. 

National Endowment for the Humanities logo
  • “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
  • “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
  • “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
  • “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 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
  • “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
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