President Trump’s FY 2019 budget proposal requests elimination of NEH and other federal cultural agencies. We strongly believe that Congress will once again support state humanities councils’ work with to strengthen education and civic engagement for residents across the nations—but we cannot rest on our laurels. Continued advocacy in the coming months is crucial.

Reclaim, repurpose and rebuild with the Broken Pieces art series hosted by Chester Made and MJ Freed Theater. Join Devon Walls and Chester artists and healers to explore and expand your creativity through a variety of artistic mediums, including painting, fine arts, meditation and yoga. Celebrate Chester's dynamic diversity through creative expressions designed to strengthen the fabric of the Chester community.

“Surprising!” “Eye-opening!” “Interesting!” Three teens, Alison, Ha and Amanda, representing John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School, stretched out comfortably on an outdoor patio overlooking the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia. They gave spirited responses to our questions about their experiences with Teen Reading Lounge (TRL), a book club developed by Pennsylvania Humanities Council that pairs reading with creative projects and thoughtful discussions.

Days after a gunman opened fire at a Parkland, Florida school in February, killing seventeen students and staff members and injuring seventeen others, the Teen Reading Lounge group at the rural Priestley-Forsyth Memorial Library in Northumberland met to discuss Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Using ground penetrating radar, Greater Carlisle Heart and Soul and a team from Dickinson College are trying to locate unmarked graves at an historic but abandoned African American church in Mount Holly Springs. The Mount Tabor Church on Cedar Street is nearly 150 years old and in poor structural condition but it has newly appreciated cultural significance in a community that is now exploring its preservation options.

For many veterans in the Penn VUB program, the trips to theaters and museums, supported by Pennsylvania Humanities Council, are wholly new experiences. They can be eye-opening and emotionally stirring, leading to conversations about culture, history and justice. This unique approach to putting veterans on track for college is often a catalyst for meaningful personal, and broader community, change.

Learn how youth organizations and libraries can promote positive youth development skills through the humanities and civic engagement through this latest recorded installment of the Teen Reading Lounge webinar series.

Valerie Adams-Bass is a developmental psychologist who focuses on adolescent development. A partner in the creation of our Teen Reading Lounge program, Dr. Adams-Bass has helped PHC understand how the humanities and the higher order thinking skills associated with the humanities can prepare youth to participate in a larger civic and political arena. She shares some thoughts on these topics in the following post.

Each year, the statewide nonprofit Preservation Pennsylvania puts out a call for nominations to its Pennsylvania At Risk list, made up of sites determined to be among the commonwealth’s most endangered historic resources. In 2018, four remarkable places that are part of Pennsylvania’s history were added to the list and will become Preservation Pennsylvania’s work priorities for the year. Together, these four sites represent approximately 635 years of Pennsylvania history. The tales they tell are about slavery, creating community after the Civil War, taming the Pennsylvania wilds, industrial growth and railroad history, craftsmanship, and the ways that people form strong connections to local places they love.

On March 20 MacArthur Fellow and National Humanities Medalist Anna Deavere Smith led a Master Class in Empathy with 120 Philadelphia-area leaders, including former mayor Michael Nutter and Police Commissioner Richard Ross. The class effectively launched “Move in Closer,” a series of activities designed to celebrate Leadership Philadelphia’s 60th anniversary. Founded in 1959, Leadership Philadelphia mobilizes and connects the talent of the private sector to serve the community. It is the original and flagship model for 400 such organizations across the country. The year-long sweep of “Move in Closer” activities is partially funded in partnership with PHC through a National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman’s Grant.

In early March, a group of PHC staff and board members traveled to Washington for Humanities on the Hill, an annual opportunity to meet with members of Congress and make a persuasive case for the value and impact of the humanities. The goal of this national event is to advocate for increased funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)—and in turn for state humanities councils like PHC.

Beginning this past fall, I have had the pleasure of being PHC’s communication’s intern. Given my rhetoric and public advocacy background, I’m interested in exploring community development and the importance of creating transparency among a group of people. A peer exchange weekend with the Chester Made initiative gave me the opportunity. Chester Made is a civic engagement project that brings together various residents from artists and local leaders to entrepreneurs with a common goal of changing the perception of Chester and building a stronger community.

The Williamsport Sun-Gazette has reviewed the new film, From the Heart of Williamsport, which premiered February 9 to a full house of more than 300 people at the Community Art Center. The film was created by the Heart of Williamsport team, who describe it as "a storytelling film that celebrates what we love about our community."

If you're reading this, you're probably familiar with many of the talking points about how the humanities benefit society. Exposure to the arts improves student test scores. Museum attendance leads to positive developmental outcomes. And a liberal arts education can cultivate a set of skills in students that appeal to employers. But can the humanities play a constructive role in community planning efforts? It's an intriguing idea, and it goes to the heart of the Orton Family Foundation's Community Heart and Soul method. This method "empowers people to shape the future of their communities by improving local decision making, creating a shared sense of belonging, and ultimately strengthening the social, cultural and economic vibrancy of communities."