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PA SHARP (Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan) is a $1.4 million recovery and growth program by PA Humanities providing funding to strengthen and grow the humanities across the state. The 92 recipients represent museums, historical societies, libraries, and other vital cultural institutions sustaining our communities during the pandemic. In addition to funding, these organizations join the new PA SHARP Learning Network, a statewide learning group that fosters resource sharing, networking, professional development, and mutual support.
“PA SHARP’s support will allow Esperanza Arts Center to complete production of the first four episodes of our LuminArias series. LuminArias fills a void that currently exists in high-quality, bilingual online educational content featuring contributions of Latino leaders in a variety of disciplines."
- Bill Rhoads, Senior Vice President, Esperanza Arts Center
LuminArias video series at Esperanza Arts Center spotlights the history and contributions of Latino artists. Our first LuminArias four-episode video series, produced in collaboration with Esperanza Charter Cyber School, Esperanza College, Impacto Media, and Global Philadelphia, will spotlight the arts and provide a platform for Latino artists to tell their stories and share the history of their art form from a Latino perspective. The series will be made available to middle and high schools around the country, filling a vacuum that currently exists in school curricula on Latino contributions and historical perspective in the arts, and providing a source of pride and inspiration for Latino youth in our community and across the state.
“The opportunities for connecting, discussion and understanding that humanities provide to our community are invaluable. We are grateful to be able to continue offering humanities programs with help from this grant funding.”
-Erica Rogler, Executive Director
Funding from the PA SHARP grant will be used to support a variety of humanities programs at the Dietrich Theater. These programs including foreign, independent and art film festivals and post-showing discussions, local history presentations, Wyoming County Reads, a program in which area residents are invited to read acclaimed books and watch and discuss the adapted films, and Reading Meeting Writers, which gives local sixth grade students the opportunity to meet an author, read their book and learn not only about the history presented in the novel but also how the writing process works.
“Support from the PA Humanities will enhance YCL’s strategic priority to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion in our humanities mission. This grant will provide us with the digital tools to ensure our collections and resources represent the communities we serve and provide perspectives from diverse groups and cultures.”
- Robert F. Lambert, President, York County Libraries
York County Libraries prides itself on its connections with the community, both through providing resources and offering valuable programming. YCL serves York County via 13 public libraries sharing a vast array of resources for the public’s use, including 700,000 books, audio, and digital resources, over 200 public computing access points, internet and Wi-Fi, and delivery and loan systems. Additionally, YCL offers over 4,800 programs to patrons countywide each year. The mission of the York County Libraries is to strengthen the York County community and to enrich individual lives by supplying information, providing recreation, promoting literacy, encouraging lifelong learning, and serving as the hub of their communities.
“This PA SHARP grant will allow us to continue providing free programs to in-person and online audiences across Pittsburgh and the state. At a time of isolation and polarization, the humanities have been instrumental in helping communities stay connected and in dialogue.”
- Andrés Franco, Executive Director
City of Asylum was founded in 2004 to provide a safe home to exiled literary writers. It has evolved over the years to become the world’s largest exiled writer and artist sanctuary. In 2017, we opened City of Asylum @ Alphabet City cultural center to create a regional cultural hub with a literary-based identity. At Alphabet City, we present more than 150 arts and humanities programs each year to build social equity through cultural exchange.
"This funding will enable us to extend our historical outreach and impact a community that will benefit from growing exposure to an uncovered shared past.”
- Johnny Johnson, President, Burleigh Legacy Alliance
Launched in 2017 as a partnership between Mercyhurst University’s Public History program, the Burleigh Legacy Alliance and Erie Yesterday, A Shared Heritage is a local community history project that publicly celebrates the culturally rich, historically courageous and socially dynamic history of African Americans in Erie County as belonging to all citizens. Funding from the PA SHARP grant will allow these partners to commemorate sites and stories highlighted by the driving and walking tour through engaging interpretive historical wayside public exhibits, publish historical content through the Jefferson Educational Society’s e-publications and the Journal of Erie Studies, and facilitate public forums to build community consensus on the relevance of teaching and learning African American history.
“By serving as a dynamic, intersectional space for spontaneous and creative collaboration, with the support from the PA SHARP grant we will be able to introduce the humanities to those who would not traditionally see themselves as focused on the humanities."
- Erica Quinn, Executive Director of 3 Dots Downtown
3 Dots is a trusted convener for an inclusive intersection of groups doing work in equity throughout our community. Through our Social Justice Cultural Catalyst program, 3 Dots hosts a series of public programming in partnership with a specific set of Social Justice community organizations, all free of charge. This initiative empowers these groups to use 3 Dots as a platform for change and connection in our community.
"Because of funding from PA Humanities, Awbury Arboretum is able to connect our communities with history through meaningful, hands-on events."
- Heather Zimmerman, Executive Director, Awbury Arboretum Association
With this grant, we will be supporting two of our major programs. The first is our Ambassadors program, in which people hired from the near neighborhood welcome visitors on the weekends and pass out maps and walking guides and inform visitors of events and the historical background of the house and grounds. The second is our humanities programming, consisting of events and lectures, focusing in the coming year on our annual theme of birds: the history of ornithology and birding in the area, the history of the interaction between birds and buildings in Philadelphia in the last century, and the historical participation of Black birders. We also take part in the Revolutionary Germantown Festival every year, with a presentation on colonial herbal medicine.
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From lifelong learning and youth development to civic engagement and cultivating a sense of belonging, the tools and outcomes of the humanities are essential for Pennsylvanians to reconnect and heal. The PA SHARP Learning Network will address the urgent need for the humanities by bringing together people passionate about creating inclusive, engaged communities and ready to lead the statewide recovery alongside PA Humanities. PA SHARP Learning Network activities will include community of practice meetings, informational webinars, and other professional development and networking opportunities.
| Organization | Award | Region | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Dots Downtown | $16,000 | NC | Centre |
| Adams County Arts Council | $16,000 | SC | Adams |
| Andrew Carnegie Free Library | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| ArtWell | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Assemble | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| Awbury Arboretum Association, Inc. | $12,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Barnstone Art for Kids | $16,000 | SE | Chester |
| Beyond the Bars | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Blair County Historical Society | $16,000 | SW | Blair |
| Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center | $16,000 | SW | Cambria |
| Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center | $16,000 | NE | Lehigh |
| Brandywine Workshop and Archives | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls | $16,000 | SW | Beaver |
| Centro Nueva Creacion | $12,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Chester Cultural Arts Center | $15,993 | SE | Delaware |
| Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania | $16,000 | SW | Blair |
| City of Asylum Pittsburgh | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| Clarion University of Pennsylvania | $16,000 | NW | Clarion |
| Cliveden of the National Trust, Inc | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Community Arts Center | $8,000 | SE | Delaware |
| Community Partnerships | $16,000 | SC | Mifflin |
| Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| COSACOSA art at large, Inc. | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Da Vinci Art Alliance | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| DreamWrights Center for Community Arts | $16,000 | SC | York |
| Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion | $14,400 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Erie Art Museum | $16,000 | NW | Erie |
| Erie Center for Arts & Technology | $16,000 | NW | Erie |
| Farm Arts Collective Inc | $8,000 | NE | Wayne |
| Fidget | $11016 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Fleisher Art Memorial | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Forbes Avenue Foundation | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| Frick Art & Historical Center Inc. | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| Gettysburg Foundation | $15,767 | SC | Adams |
| Hamlin Memorial Library | $6,560 | NW | McKean |
| Historic Germantown | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Images of the Motherland | $14,240 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Indigenous Peoples’ Day Philly Inc. | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Intercultural Journeys | $12,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| International Visitors Council of Philadelphia | $16000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Johnstown Area Heritage Association | $16,000 | SW | Cambria |
| Just Act, Inc. | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Kelly Strayhorn Theater | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| Knox Public Library | $16,000 | NW | Clarion |
| Kulu Mele African Dance & Drum Ensemble | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Landis Valley Associates | $16,000 | SC | Lancaster |
| Literacy Council of Norristown | $16,000 | SE | Montgomery |
| Literacy Council of Southwestern PA | $16,000 | SW | Washington |
| Little Lake Theatre Company | $10,000 | SW | Washington |
| LiveConnections DBA World Cafe Live | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Lower Merion Library System | $13,840 | SE | Montgomery |
| Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity | $16,000 | NE | Northampton |
| Mercyhurst University | $16,000 | NW | Erie |
| Mighty Writers | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Monongahela Area Library | $15,485 | SW | Washington |
| North Wales Area Library | $8,480 | SE | Montgomery |
| Nueva Esperanza, Inc. | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Painted Bride Art Center | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries, Inc. | $13,560 | SE | Bucks |
| Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| PHILADELPHIA250 | $13,947 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Reading Public Library Foundation | $9,600 | SC | Berks |
| Rock to the Future | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Rodef Shalom Congregation | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| Saint Vincent College | $15,987 | SW | Westmoreland |
| Scribe Video Center | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Shamokin-Coal Township Public Library | $16,000 | NC | Northumberland |
| Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| South Central PaARTners at Millersville | $16,000 | SC | Lancaster |
| St. Marys Public Library | $16,000 | NW | Elk |
| Stenton, NSCDA/PA | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Taller Puertorriqueño | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| The College of Physicians of Philadelphia | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| The Jefferson Educational Society of Erie | $16,000 | NW | Erie |
| The Lemoyne Community Center | $16,000 | SW | Washington |
| The Library Company of Philadelphia | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| The Mattress Factory | $16,000 | SW | Allegheny |
| The Pennsbury Society | $16,000 | SE | Bucks |
| The Wilma Theater | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Theatre Philadelphia | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Three Aksha | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Tredyffrin Township Library Foundation | $13,040 | SE | Chester |
| Twelve Gates Arts | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Warren Library Association | $16,000 | NW | Warren |
| West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance/Paul Robeson House & Museum | $16,000 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Whitemarsh Art Center | $14,787 | SE | Montgomery |
| World Affairs Council of Harrisburg | $16,000 | SC | Dauphin |
| WVIA | $16,000 | NE | Luzerne |
| Wyck Association | $12,033 | SE | Philadelphia |
| Wyoming County Cultural Center, Inc. | $16,000 | NE | Wyoming |
| York County Libraries | $16,000 | SC | York |
| Zelienople Area Public Library | $16,000 | SW | Butler |
Funding for PA SHARP comes from PA Humanities’ federal partner, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Additional funding comes from Spring Point Partners to support 16 organizations that serve Philadelphia’s BIPOC and new immigrant communities.
