Mellon Foundation

📣 The LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund: #FinalCall for Applications Led by J. Paul Getty Trust and a coalition of arts and philanthropic organizations, the program offers unrestricted, emergency funds to artists and arts workers impacted by the unprecedented wildfire crisis. "Far beyond its borders, the city of Los Angeles shapes our collective consciousness as a locus of astonishing imaginative power and artistic ingenuity," says Elizabeth Alexander, Mellon Foundation President. "Its people include artists, culture makers, performers, and workers in the arts writ large—and its people need the nation’s immediate support. We will stand by Angelenos in the arts in this time of loss and devastation." The application is open through Tuesday, February 18 at 5pm PT. 🔗 Access the portal and application details at cciarts.org/relief.html

Mellon Foundation has announced a $4.9 million grant to University of Memphis and a $4.8 million grant to University of South Florida to provide paid internships for humanities students. The five-year grants will support student #internships, bolster staff development, and establish endowments to fund the programs in perpetuity.

What’s one moment that changed the course of your career? For Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Maria Hinojosa, that moment arrived when, as a young student at Barnard College, she walked into the recording studio of WKCR 89.9 FM NY, Columbia University’s student-run radio station. From there, Hinojosa carved a unique path through the world of multimedia journalism, reporting for PBS, CNN, NPR, and more, and later anchoring the Emmy Award winning WGBH show, “Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One.” Representation has been a foundational goal for Hinojosa, a reporter who was often the first Latina in many newsrooms. Audiences had limited experiences listening to a Latina journalist. “I wanted to make that connection,” she says. “They always saw me as the other, so I was always having to use my humanity to make myself more human.” In 2010, Hinojosa founded the The Futuro Media Group, an independent media organization focused on contemporary social issues told from underrepresented perspectives. They produce stories for and about today’s American mainstream, underscoring that learning about the complexities of the world is essential to the shared human experience. Learn more about Futuro Media Group’s unique approach to journalism, storytelling, and radical transparency at on.mellon.org/4gw91es 🎥 Are We There Yet?

"The superpowers of the future emanate from the humanities: introspection and imagination, storytelling and story-listening, critical thinking," says Rishi Jaitly, founder of Virginia Tech Institute for Leadership in Technology. Learn more about how colleges and universities are emphasizing the value of a #humanities degree in today's contexts, preparing students for a wide variety of careers and real-world applications.

Mellon Foundation has awarded a $3.6 million grant to University of Maryland to develop archival practices that prioritize Indigenous knowledge, identities, and cultural narratives. "We can reshape archival practices to reflect the needs and aspirations of Indigenous communities striving to reclaim and revitalize their knowledge,” says Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner, assistant professor at University of Maryland - College of Arts and Humanities and director of UMD’s Indigenous Futures Lab.

What would it look like to decolonize our diets? 🍽️ Owamni is a James Beard-award winning, Indigenous restaurant located on Haháwakpá (Mississippi River) in Minneapolis, MN. Led by renowned chef Sean Sherman, the restaurant famously omits ingredients introduced to North America by European colonizers. By bringing Indigenous ingredients to the center of his dishes, Sherman is spotlighting the “immense plant diversity that Western diets completely ignore.” More broadly, Owamni is creating an occasion for a new conversation—about ingredients that are rooted in Indigenous histories and cultures. And this is just the start of the movement. More and more restaurants are beginning to bring Native American food to the dining table. Outside of the restaurant, Sherman and his organization NĀTIFS.org also offer public programs on Native farming techniques, Indigenous medicines, and language preservation. They work directly with organizations like hospitals, schools, and foodbanks to help more people access Indigenous foods outside of restaurant settings. “The more we normalize seeing Indigenous foods out there, the more people understand that it’s not just lost or decimated cultures, but thriving cultures that are creating solutions for our food system,” says Sherman. Learn more about how NATIFS is carving a path for a future deeply connected to the land at on.mellon.org/4aKAOGE 🎥 Are We There Yet?

Mellon Foundation has awarded a $1.28 million grant to the "Digital Preservation Outreach and Education Network," led by Pratt Institute, in collaboration with New York University. The grant will fund digital preservation training workshops, as well as the distribution of microgrants to library, archive, and museum (LAM) professionals.

📝 A letter from Elizabeth Alexander, Mellon Foundation President Reflecting on the year past and the year to come, the Mellon Foundation remains focused on the transformative and vital power of the arts, culture, and humanities. “Our grantmaking this year was illustrative of multivocality on the ground, in our neighborhoods and across our nation,” says Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation. “Our commitment to ideas and imagination, to the power and potential of the arts, culture, and humanities remains fierce—as does our dedication to doing our part, always, to create a more just future.” Read the full 2024 Annual Report and President’s Letter at on.mellon.org/4hGqfH0 📷 Camila Falquez, Brendan George Ko, Sharif Hamza, Stefan Ruiz, Joshua Asante Mellon Foundation

Where is all the Native food? 🍃 Even in America’s food meccas, Indigenous ingredients haven’t always been on the menu.    Chef Sean Sherman and the organization he leads, NĀTIFS.org, are starting to change that.   “Food sparks something in people,” says Sherman. “It creates a larger conversation. It opens up a bunch of doors of curiosity.”   From reintroducing Native ingredients on the menu of his award-winning restaurant Owamni to running an Indigenous Food Lab that teaches people how to harvest and cook Indigenous recipes, Sherman carries out a bold agenda to reestablish Native foodways in North America.     “With food, you can tell a story. I was able to really understand how powerful food can be as an art form.”    Read the full #GrantStory to learn more about how NATIFS is advancing Indigenous knowledge and communities through our food systems.

The WeGOJA Foundation's South Carolina Preservation Toolkit is a free online resource to help organizations preserve Black history and provide access to their archives. With a $750,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, the project will be launched this #BlackHistoryMonth to equip local communities with the tools to preserve historic spaces.