Sparking positive change,
creating a more unified society

Join us in unleashing the power of the humanities.

Our Work Fostering Curiosity, Connection, and Compassion

Programming

We curate and co-create thought-provoking conversations, traveling exhibits, books and films, and other offerings that examine our society, institutions, cultures, and what it means to be human.

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Grantmaking

We grant funds to individuals, nonprofits, schools, museums, and organizations across the state who leverage the humanities to deepen connection and understanding in their communities.

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Open Applications and Opportunities

Host Spark! Places of Innovation

Apply by May 31, 2026
Spark! Places of Innovation is a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program. The exhibit dives into innovation and invention happening in rural America.

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Host We Are Water MN

Apply by June 21, 2026
We Are Water MN deepens connections between the humanities and water through a network of partnerships, a traveling exhibit, and public events.

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Request for Proposals – Voices Forward Poetry Mentors

Proposals due by May 8, 2026

Voices Forward is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250, a series of programs created by humanities councils and local partners.

MHC invites proposals from working Minnesota poets, individuals, or organizations currently mentoring youth in the arts to serve as Poetry Mentors for Voices Forward, a youth poetry and public humanities initiative commemorating America’s Semiquincentennial, or 250^th anniversary.

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“We should not permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.”
Booker T. Washington

Join Us in Creating a More Unified Society

Learn more about yourself, our communities, and our society or share your unique vision about the human experience or our world.

Get Involved

Attend an Upcoming Event

May

29 St. Paul – Learning from Place: Little Mekong Cultural District

St. Paul’s Little Mekong Cultural District invites participants into a vibrant Southeast Asian cultural corridor shaped by migration, resilience, and entrepreneurship along University Avenue.

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Jun

05 Maplewood – Learning from Place: HmongTown Marketplace & Beyond

Learning from Place: HmongTown Marketplace & Beyond offers a rare opportunity to witness the becoming of place through an inspiring vision of founder and CEO of HmongTown Marketplace and Pan Asian Center, Toua Xiong.

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Jun

06 St. Paul – Art + Water Workshop: Aquasonos – Community Listening with Dameun Strange

At the Art + Water Workshop: Aquasonos you are invited to listen together to the sounds of our watershed, from the ancient history of Como Lake to the birds of Frogtown Farm.

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Jun

09 Marshall – The Declaration of Independence and Liberty, Then and Now: A Community Conversation

The Minnesota Humanities Center presents a community conversation in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding and to identify shared values as Minnesotans. Free to attend. Registration required. Dinner provided.

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The humanities remind each and every one of us that we are not alone here…When we truly look at what we’re asking and who we are, we can see the beauty that is all around us.
– Dr. Shelly C. Lowe, former Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities