National Endowment for the Humanities: Preservation and Access Education and Training Grants

The Preservation and Access Education and Training program supports the development of knowledge and skills among professionals responsible for preserving and establishing access to humanities collections. Grants are awarded to organizations that offer national or regional education and training programs that reach audiences in more than one state. Grants aim to help the staff of cultural institutions, large and small, obtain the knowledge and skills needed to serve as effective stewards of humanities collections. Grants also support educational programs that prepare the next generation of preservation professionals, as well as projects that introduce the staff of cultural institutions to new information and advances in preservation and access practices.

Preservation and Access Education and Training grants support the activities that include:

• Preservation field services that provide a range of education and training programs (e.g., surveys, workshops, consultations, reference services, and preparation of informational resources about the care of humanities collections), especially for staff at smaller libraries, museums, archives, and other cultural organizations
• Master’s degree programs in preservation and conservation
• Continuing education opportunities and specialized workshops that address emerging topics of national significance and broad impact related to the preservation and access of humanities materials, such as: 1) emergency preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery; 2) preventive conservation and sustainable preservation strategies; and 3) preservation techniques and access challenges for audio materials and moving image materials

Applications for projects that study, document, or create digital representations of lost or imperiled cultural heritage materials are encouraged. Proposed projects should be based on scholarly work and follow standards and best practices. Project teams must include appropriate methodological specialists and humanities scholars. Projects must demonstrate the capacity to be sustained and must be widely accessible to the public.

Additionally, preservation field service organizations may apply for funds enabling them to provide a one-year postgraduate training fellowship in preventive conservation for emerging preservation professionals as a subaward under this grant. These fellowships aim to bridge the gap between completion of graduate training and full-time employment, by offering specialized training in preventive conservation and preservation services.

Amount: Grants for preservation field services may range up to $175,000 per year. Preservation field service organizations grants range up to $45,000 to support a one-year postgraduate fellowship as a subaward under the grant. For all other activities, including emergency preparedness and recovery workshops, the maximum award is $100,000 per year. Awards may be made for up to two years. In most cases, grants in this program cover no more than 80 percent of project costs.

Eligibility: U.S. nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status (including institutions of higher education), state and local governmental agencies, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. Applicants must offer national or regional education and training programs that reach audiences in more than one state. Only preservation field service organizations may apply for support of a postgraduate fellowship.

Note: There is special encouragement for applicants in federally declared disaster areas affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, as well as wildfires and mudslides in California, and recognizing the importance of planning, mitigation, and long-term recovery efforts, applications are encouraged from—and projects that support—cultural institutions in federally designated disaster areas. Project activities can include training sessions related to recovery efforts, the development of regional mutual aid consortia, and workshops focused on emergency planning and response.

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=301313

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