Be an MHC Advocate

Complete the form below to become an MHC Advocate for the humanities. We appreciate your unwavering support during these uncertain times.

Write to your elected officials and let them know what programs you appreciate most.

Below are some MHC programs that you might want to include in your letter as we have shared this information with the Minnesota congressional delegation over the past two years: 

We hosted “Sketches of Minnesota”, a unique community engagement effort in which we brought neighbors together to discuss their love, challenges, hopes, and dreams for their communities. Host cities included: Austin, Duluth, Emily, Glencoe, International Falls, Little Falls, Morris, Waite Park, West St. Paul, and Winona. 

We are working with the Shakopee Sioux Mdewakanton Sioux community to publish nine (9) new books in the Native American Lives Book Series with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Professor Gwen Nell Westermann. The original three (3) books in the Series and one new book are now available for purchase.   

We worked with Artist Carmen de la Griega on her project, Take Me to Where There is Life, which fostered greater connection between caregivers and individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and/or dementia through the creation of art and dance. The program was offered in partnership with the Duluth Art Institute. 

We celebrated the first ten years of our Veterans: Many Fronts program at our Annual Celebration with a short film and remarks from Veteran Miki Huntington. We hosted “Reflections on War and Service at the Capitol Mall” featuring Veteran and poet Jessi Atherton. We are also working on 50^th commemorative programming involving the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam with Veterans and community organizations. 

We again hosted a Juneteenth brunch, play, and film to educate Minnesotans on the history of Juneteenth. The play was seen by more than 1,000 students at the University of Minnesota’s Northrup Auditorium and Capri Theater in Minneapolis. Our film won ten film festival awards and was seen in several Minnesota theaters. 

In partnership with the Friends of the St. Paul Library, we are bringing “Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home,” to several cities in Minnesota. The Latino Poetry anthology effort is a significant nationwide humanities initiative directed by the Library of America with support from NEH and Emerson Collective. 

We have also begun planning the traveling Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibit, “Sparks! Places of Innovation,” which will tour Minnesota in 2026. 

We also award grants annually to individuals, organizations, and children’s museums all throughout Minnesota through federal funding and the state’s Legacy Amendment. These grant awards allow the people of Minnesota to learn from one another and create greater connection. (Each congressional member received information about that grants that we made in her/his district.) 

We Are Water (WAW) is a statewide travelling multi-week exhibit that allows individuals and local organizations to explore water stewardship issues and find solutions working with their community partners. MHC has hosted, with several state agencies, between six to eight community conversations a year in different counties in Minnesota over the past 5 years. 

Why Treaties Matter (WTM) is a statewide traveling multi-week exhibit that allows individuals to gain greater understanding of the treaties that were entered into by the eleven federally recognized tribes within Minnesota. WTM was created in partnership with the tribal nations and has been seen by more than a hundred thousand people over the past decade. Because of the success of WTM, the State of Minnesota created a permanent WTM exhibit at the State Capitol.