April eNews from Arizona Humanities

Humanities Now

April 2019

Join Us in Celebrating the 2019 Humanities Awards!

Sunday, April 14 | 4:30 - 7:00 PM

Mesa Arts Center - Virginia G. Piper Repertory Theater

1 E. Main St., Mesa, AZ 85201

Natalie Diaz

Joan McGregor

Rachel Egboro

Kevin Schindler

Rodo Sofranac

Morning Star Leaders, Inc.

Every spring, AZ Humanities recognizes distinguished artists, scholars, and community partners working to advance the humanities in Arizona. Join the celebration on Sunday, April 14 at the Mesa Arts Center Virginia G. Piper Repertory Theater. Enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres, live entertainment, our annual silent auction, and more as we celebrate the 2019 Humanities Awards recipients and Arizona Humanities. Learn about each award recipient here .

Purchase your tickets at azhumanities.org/celebrate or email

info@azhumanities.org to learn more.

National Endowment Funding Approved!

Executive Director Brenda Thomson with staffer Christina Villa and Vice Chair Mary Lu Nunley

Congressman David Schweikert, center

Brenda Thomson

This year we attended Humanities on the Hill to meet with Arizona State and Federal leaders about funding for public programs. We wanted to make sure that they knew how important Arizona Humanities programs and grants are to the people of Arizona. 14,000 people attend AZ Speaks programs annually, and 30,000 are expected to visit the Smithsonian WaterWays traveling exhibit. Vice Chair Mary Lu Nunley and I met with leaders and staffers from across the state, and were invited to open houses hosted by Representative David Schweikert and Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Special thanks to Representatives Tim O' Halleran, Ruben Gallego, and Raul Grijalva for signing letters of support to Congress. Funding was approved for this fiscal year! Thank you to all the Arizona leaders who made this possible. Humanities matter to Arizonans.

Award Recipients in the News


	Courtesy of Stephanie Hiller-Slazek for The Farm at South Mountain. Alice Waters on left; Joan McGregor pictured on right.

Humanities Public Scholar, Joan McGregor, Teaches Slow Food Values Amidst a Fast Food Culture

On March 27, Professor of Philosophy at Arizona State University, Joan McGregor,

coordinated a fundraiser in support of the Edible Education Project and Slow Foods' Blue Watermelon Project , which brings local farmers and chefs to K-12 schools.

Along with Chef, Activist, and Restaurateur, Alice Waters, McGregor also facilitated a conversation on the power of slow food eating with Phoenix food activists at The Farm at South Mountain.

McGregor will receive the Humanities Public Scholar Award at the 2019 Humanities Awards.

Grantee Highlights: Chandler Public Library to Host Free Native American Performance Series


	R. Carlos Nakai. Courtesy of Chandler Public Library

Arizona Humanities awarded the Chandler Public Library a $3,500 grant to host a free performance series beginning April 2019. All four branches will host performances by Native American musicians, dancers, and storytellers in conjunction with

One World, Many Voices , a photographic exhibition featuring the artists of Arizona-based and Grammy Award-winning, Canyon Records.

This series is an opportunity for all ages to experience, enjoy, and learn from Native American artists through music, stories, poetry, and dance. Each performance includes an opportunity for audience discussion and questions as well as the chance to meet the artists personally.

Performance Series Schedule
Performances are free and open to the public. Registration is required. Learn about each performance here.

Saturday, April 13, 1 PM-4 PM Chandler Downtown Library 22 S. Delaware St. Chandler 85225	Coyote in the Outer World with R. Carlos Nakai
Wednesday, May 15, 6 PM-7:30 PM Basha Library 5990 S. Val Vista Drive Chandler 85249	Hoop Dance 101 with Tony Duncan
Saturday, June 1, 3 PM-4:30 PM Hamilton Library 3700 S. Arizona Ave. Chandler 85248	Sons and Fathers with Joel, Roman, and Tahj Orona
Saturday, June 15, 10:30 AM-12 PM Sunset Library 4930 W. Ray Road Chandler 85226	Our People of the South with Xavier Quijas Yxayotl
Saturday, June 22 6 PM-8 PM Chandler Community Center 125 E. Commonwealth Ave. Chandler 85225	Waila!, with Southern Scratch

Veterans Heritage Project Celebrates 15th Volume Featuring Korean War Veterans

Veterans Heritage Project celebrated another milestone with the release of its fifteenth volume of veteran interviews. The latest volume captures the compelling stories of veterans who served in the Korean War, also known as "the forgotten war." High School students learn about the war through interviewing veterans about their personal war experience. These stories are compiled into a book and preserved at the Library of Congress. Learn more about the Veterans Heritage Project here.

Interested in Applying for a Project Grant? Submit Your Letter of Intent by May 1

Do you have an idea for a humanities project in Arizona? Project Grants are competitive grants supporting public programming in the humanities. Organizations may request up to $10,000 to support their program implementation. All organizations must submit a Letter of Intent by Wednesday, May 1 in order to submit a full application.

The Letter of Intent must be submitted through the online Grants and Programs Dashboard. Click here to access the Grants and Programs Dashboard .

Water/Ways Exhibit at Black Canyon City and the City of Dragoon

On Saturday, March 2nd, Black Canyon City Community Library hosted the first in a series of eight programs designed to generate public awareness of the water situation in the Southwest and in Arizona.

The Smithsonian Water/Ways exhibit continues its tour in the City of Dragoon's Amerind Museum where v isitors can also explore Waters of the West and the local companion exhibit of Amerind and Friends of Western Art. The exhibit displays artworks from private collections and from Amerind's permanent collection centered on the theme of water.

Dragoon programs include:

Amerind and The Loft Cinema present Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock (April 13)
Regents' Professor Robert Glennon presents Moral Stewardship of Our Most Precious Resource: Water (April 20)
Multimedia artist Gabriel Ayala presents Water Protectors: The Standing Rock Camps through the Lens of Gabriel Ayala. Exhibit open through May 12; Gallery Presentation (April 4)

Water/Ways will remain in Dragoon from March 9-April 21. For more details on all of Dragoon's programs, visit waterwaysaz.org/host-sites/dragoon.

Love poetry? Join us for Democracy & the Informed Citizen: An Evening with Natasha Trethewey


Courtesy of Nancy Crampton

Thursday, April 25

7:00PM-8:30PM

FOUND:RE Hotel

1100 N Central Ave.

Phoenix, AZ 85004

Free & Open to the Public

RSVP here.

Join us for an evening with former U.S. Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection Native Guard (2006), and Monument: Poems New and Selected (2018), as she interrogates the power of language and the relationship between citizenry and democracy. Audience Q&A and book signing to follow. Learn more about Natasha's work here.

Congratulations to the U of A Grad Slam Winners!

From left to right: Diana Githu, Sonia Delphin Perez, Jennifer Duchschere, Lauren Meeks, John Alexander Erwin, Jonathan Credo

On April 2, the University of Arizona hosted the annual Grad Slam, a campus-wide competition for the best graduate student presentation of a research or creative project. At $1,000 a minute, the stakes were higher than ever. Finalists had only three minutes to convey the importance of their research projects while still engaging the audience.

Projects included developing new methods to mitigate salivary gland damage from cancer treatment with nutrition, pastoralism and the regeneration of arid grasslands to prevent starvation, protection of indigenous and immigrant farmworkers from mining and farm waste pollutants in the Colorado river, and more.

Diana Githu (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences), Jonathan Credo (College of Medicine-Tucson), and Lauren Meeks (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) took home top prizes. Congratulations to all the finalists and this year's winners!

Humanities Happenings

Talking Book Library Provides Braille Delivery Service to Patrons

The Talking Book Librar y provides audio book and braille delivery service for the visually-impaired and physically-limited throughout Arizona.

Patrons of the library can access the physical collection as well as register for the Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) program by filling out a form on the library's website. Learn more about the service here.

Organizations and business are also qualified to use this service. An application for organizations, businesses, libraries, schools and active adult centers, veterans' administration, and medical facilities is also available at the library's website.

Downtown Phoenix Community Outreach Program Facilitates Conversation Around Criminal Justice in Arizona

Tuesday, April 30

8:00 AM-10:00 AM

Westward Ho, Concho Room

618 N Central Ave

Phoenix, AZ 85004

FREE EVENT

What is the best way to create and maintain safe, productive communities?

Director of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, Andrea Whitsett, will host a conversation on criminal justice in Arizona. Join this interactive community discussion and let your voice be heard. Reserve your spot by registering here .

Tucson's Old Pueblo Archaeology Center Hosts Arrowhead-making Workshop


	Projectile points made by flintknapping class instructor Sam Greenleaf

The reservation deadline for the Arrowhead-making and Flintknapping Workshop at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center is Thursday, April 4.

Learn how to make arrowheads, spear points, and other flaked stone artifacts. Flintknapping expert Sam Greenleaf provides hands-on instruction in this interactive workshop. Learn how prehistoric people made and used projectile points created from obsidian and other stones. Materials and equipment are provided.

Reservations and donation prepayment required by 5PM on Thursday April 4. Please call 520-798-1201 or email info@oldpueblo.org to reserve your spot.

National History Club Co-Sponsors Lessons on Leadership Contest

The National History Club and The HBE Foundation will co-sponsor the "Lessons of Leadership" Contest. Middle and high school students are encouraged to select a historical figure (domestic or foreign, ancient or modern) and examine how that person displayed

courage and conviction with a decision they made throughout their life. Contest entries can be submitted as an essay, a documentary or PowerPoint presentation, or a website. Learn more here

All entries must be received by April 10, 2019. Submissions will be judged by the NHC Advisory Board and winners will be announced at the end of April.

NEH News and Other Opportunities

NEH Announces $28.6 Million to 233 Humanities Projects Nationwide

Grant awards support cultural infrastructure projects, advanced scholarly research, humanities exhibitions and documentaries, and the preservation of historic collections. Learn more about each project here.

Grants at a Glance

The NEH Awards for Faculty program seeks to strengthen the humanities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by encouraging and expanding humanities research opportunities for individual faculty and staff members. Awards support individuals pursuing scholarly research that is of value to humanities scholars, students, and/or general audiences. Applications due April 10.

In partnership with The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the NEH will provide support to individual scholars pursuing interpretive research projects that require digital expression and digital publication. Applications due April 10 .

NEH Fellowships are competitive awards granted to individual scholars pursuing projects that embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applications must clearly articulate a project's value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Applications due April 10.