BROOKINGS Shortly after having nearly its entire budget cut by the Trump administration, the South Dakota Humanities Council is receiving at least $200,000 from a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting the arts and humanities.
The Mellon Foundation actually dedicated $15 million to all (humanities) councils throughout the United States and its territories. We are not sure the exact amount we are getting, but we are for sure guaranteed to get at least $200,000, Christina Oey, executive director of the Brookings-based South Dakota Humanities Council, said. We have an additional $50,000 that we can receive if we are able to raise $50,000. We are very confident that we will be able to reach that match.
Last month, Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency eliminated federal funding for all state humanities councils. The South Dakota council lost $950,000 approximately 73% of their budget.
Councils that were near closing theres a few states that were closing at the end of the month, there was one that was pretty much shut down and a few others who had just a few months left I know they got their funding immediately, Oey said. I believe they also received more funding, because, as I said, they were on the brink of closure.
Out of the $15 million from the Mellon Foundation, $2.8 million is allocated as challenge grants of up to $50,000 in matching funds for each council.
They want folks to really recognize the power of the individual dollar and how that can make a big impact, Oey said. Every dollar (up to $50,000) that is given now through the end of the year will be matched by Mellon. We do have some donors who have already stepped up, but I cant identify them publicly yet. If you want to give, please visit our website.
She said the grant is a one-time gift as of now, and all the humanities councils may need to establish new, long-term revenue streams. On May 2, the Trump administration proposed eliminating both the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. Oey if congress approves that in next years budget, there will be no future funding for any of the state councils.
Hearing that kind of really set the tone for how to move forward, she said. It doesnt shut South Dakota Humanities down. What it will do is cause us to pivot and realign. I will say that our organization is very fortunate in that we are not one of the ones that are near closure. We have at least a year and a half under our belts that can get us through; but if we do not receive further federal funding, we will definitely have to pivot how our organization functions.
She said councils nationwide are discussing partnerships and possible mergers.
We have not had those talks, but I can say that we always work together (with neighboring councils) anyways, Oey said. Theres a potential grant that us and another council in the Midwest are going to go after, which will create some positive collaboration but that is not necessarily due to the closure of NEH.
She said although the South Dakota council is not in immediate danger of closure, they will likely be reducing some programs.
We may have to look at the scale of the operations that we do, Oey said. The way that we hit every single county in South Dakota was through our grant making program, but the grant making program was funded by the federal government. So thats going to have to be looked at whether we want to continue that and, if we do continue that, on what scale.
South Dakota Humanities is still sponsoring this years Festival of Books Sept. 26-28 in Spearfish. Oey said they also remain committed to the Young Readers One Program, which provides free books to third-graders throughout the state.
Literacy is a huge focus right now for our organization, just because the reading and literacy proficiency rates in South Dakota continue to decline, Oey said. We feel its our responsibility to try to increase and improve those numbers for children in South Dakota. We believe we have the tools, the resources and relationships to really start having those conversations about how do we improve literacy rates in our state.
She said even if other programs are eliminated the Young Readers One Book program will somehow continue.
Even if we shut down as an organization, I personally would continue to work to make sure that program continues, Oey said. Definitely well continue our Young Readers One Book I can confidently say that. We deliver a free book to every third-grader already, so we already have those systems set up and those volunteers ready to go. What that looks like scaled differently, we dont know yet; but were definitely going to stay on top of it.
She thanked the Mellon Foundation and encouraged South Dakotans to continue to support the humanities.
The Mellon Foundation really recognized this is a unique situation for so many councils and nonprofits across the country, and its very rare for a donor to step up and not only give without hesitation but also to give so generously, Oey said. We just really cant thank the Mellon Foundation and South Dakotans enough for supporting the work that we do. Now is the time. If you want to see the humanities in South Dakota, if you want to fight for literacy and childrens reading programs in South Dakota, if you want to see our Festival of Books continue definitely, please hop on our website and donate.
Donations can be made at https://sdhumanities.org/donate.
Contact Jay Roe at [email protected].
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