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LEH Announces Deadline for 2018 Rebirth Grants

Jonno Frischberg of Louisiana Folk Roots performs at 2017 LEH Bright Lights Awards Dinner.

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities offers grants to support projects that provide access to the humanities for citizens in Louisiana. The LEH will begin accepting applications for the 2018 LEH Rebirth Grants on August. 1, 2018. Grant awards range from $500-$5000. The project term is November 1, 2018 to November 29, 2019. Eligible projects include new and continuing scholarly research about Louisiana, free public humanities programs that involve audience participation and discussion, documentary photography and radio projects, digital humanities projects including websites and online documentation of Louisiana history and culture, assistance with publication projects and humanities-based educational initiatives.

LEH encourages projects that generate new content that can be incorporated into Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine and KnowLouisiana.org, two LEH programs that make the humanities available to the general public.

The application period for 2018 Rebirth Grants begins on 12:00AM on August 1, 2018, and concludes at 11:59PM on August 31, 2018.

Notifications of grants awarded will be made by October 15. Click here for a list of past grantees. For more information, email Grants Manager Christopher Robert at [email protected].

Application Overview:

The Project Description provides a brief summary of the proposed project. The Project Goals and Evaluation section includes the following: Project Timeline provides LEH Board and staff members with descriptions of the project activities and timetable; the Humanities Content section lists the humanities disciplines of the proposed program, followed by a list of any Humanities Scholars participating in the project; Sustainability, including any plans to replicate the project in the future; and a plan for Evaluation of the project’s success.

The Budget and Outreach section includes: Estimated Audience number and Target Audience, and the publicity plans and outreach tools used by the project director and sponsoring organization; a Budget showing an itemization of the intended use of LEH funds, and Budget Narrative detailing the use of LEH funds, indicating payment and services for key project staff, humanities scholars, and consultants involved in your project; description of any 3rd-party gifts, citing sources, expected receipt dates, and amounts; and explanations any unclear line items in your budget form.

The Support Materials include resumes of the project director, project staff, and participating scholars. Other items to be included are letters of support from sponsoring and supporting institutions, letters from institutions and organizations impacted by the program, and letters from supportive and interested individuals. Those who are applying for digital humanities initiatives such as web/app design should consider submitting samples of past work.

All LEH Rebirth Grants are subject to the same review process, which begins with the staff evaluating proposals prior to submitting them to the Grant Review Committee (GRC). The staff makes comments in four categories:

  1. Strength of humanities content;
  2. Outreach strategies;
  3. Partnerships with institutions, scholars and other humanities organizations
  4. Alignment LEH mission, including incorporation in Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine and/or KnowLouisina.org, the Digital Encyclopedia of Louisiana, statewide outreach, and special audiences.

Please note:

  • Film and video projects are NOT eligible under the Rebirth grant stream, as these projects are funded through our CreateLouisiana grant stream.
  • Applicants for research and publishing initiatives should provide letter of interest or proof of contract from a publisher, or detail other means of reaching the public.

The GRC screens applications and provides recommendations to the Full Board. The LEH may in some cases award partial amounts of grant requests. Grant payment is awarded in two installments, 75% at time of award and 25% after project evaluation is completed and approved by LEH staff.

Anyone with questions about the application process for an LEH Rebirth Grant should read the General Application Guidelines and contact LEH Grants Manager Christopher Robert at 504.620.2639 or [email protected].