Minnesota Humanities Center
ActiveArts, Culture & Humanities
About Minnesota Humanities Center
To spark positive change by increasing collective understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our histories through stories and experiences.
Focus Areas
humanitiescultural heritagecommunity identityethnic mediafestivals and eventsmuseums, exhibits, and collectionschildren's museum exhibits and outreachyouth literacycivic engagement and civics educationK-12 education
Who They Fund
children and familiesSomali and other immigrant communitiesveteransmuseum organizations and cultural institutions
About Minnesota Humanities Center
Minnesota Humanities Center’s grantmaking is shaped by humanities work that ties stories, heritage, and civic understanding to Minnesota communities. A large share of its recent awards flow through legacy and cultural heritage funding, including repeated support for children’s museums, immigrant and Somali cultural organizations, and projects that connect community identity to education. The center’s role is not just as a direct grantmaker; it also appears as a regranting intermediary for state legacy funds, with awards that move through organizations such as Minnesota Children’s Museum and Springboard for the Arts. Recent grants show that the center supports both institutions and community-based cultural work. Minnesota Children’s Museum received multiple awards, including a $494,912 grant in 2023 and a $472,500 grant in 2025, while Hunger Solutions Minnesota received several sizable grants tied to healthy eating and farmers market incentive work. The center also funded Giiwedinong Museum, Reviving The Islamic Sisterhood For Empowerment, and The Works, pointing to a portfolio that combines heritage preservation, informal learning, and community storytelling. Its public purpose statement emphasizes increasing collective understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our histories through stories and experiences, and the recent grant pattern reflects that mandate across museums, ethnic media, youth literacy, and cultural studies.
What Minnesota Humanities Center Funds
Children’s museums are a major part of the center’s portfolio. It gave $472,500 to Minnesota Childrens Museum for Arts & Cultural Heritage Grants, and $177,188 to Giiwedinong Museum for the same grant program. Similar support reached The Works Museum in Bloomington, which received $85,657 for Arts & Cultural Heritage Grants. The center also invests in cultural studies and identity-based education. Under its Cultural and Ethnic Studies Grants, it funds materials for K-12 students in Minnesota, including communities such as Hmong, Karen, Somali, and Oromo. That same education-and-identity thread appears in youth literacy, where grants support authors and organizations creating books and literacy resources for children and youth in Minnesota. Another clear area is community heritage and civic memory. Reviving The Islamic Sisterhood For Empowerment received $102,284 for Arts & Cultural Heritage Grants, while Speaking Out Collective received $95,665 through Legacy Cultural Heritage Grant funding. These awards show attention to cultural expression, representation, and community narrative.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$8.4M
Total Assets
$27.6M
Total Revenue
$6.5M
Total Expenses
$9.9M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $15K and $50K, with a median of $22K.
25th Percentile
$15K
Median
$22K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
About 100% of grants go to recipients in MN.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
KEVIN LINDSEY
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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