Maine Humanities Council

08/18/2026

For the first time, humanities councils have partnered with the Smithsonian on a single initiative engaging communities across the country.

08/18/2026

08/06/2026

Applications for our Mini Grants open next Tuesday!

Mini Grants distribute funding to humanities programs and projects undertaken by non-profit organizations and communities all across Maine. Organizations serving and/or led by members of communities traditionally under-resourced in the humanities are encouraged to apply.

We evaluate proposals on their strength and clarity in the following areas:

- Humanities content
- Project goals and impact
- Project design and budget
- Community outreach and engagement
- Alignment with Maine Humanities priorities as listed in our Grant Guidelines, which can be read on our website

Check out our FAQ videos on the Grants page of our website, or reach out to our team for more. If you have never applied for a Maine Humanities Grant or aren’t familiar with the grant application process, we would love to work with you in order to make the process as easy as possible.

08/05/2026

A Maine Humanities Book Group is a place where people can have meaningful, wide-ranging discussions—with their neighbors, coworkers and fellow community members—about the things that make us human.

These professionally facilitated groups are grounded in books and provide intentional space for listening, wondering, noticing, and following curiosities together. With no direct learning objectives, they are a place to practice talking with each other about big ideas and to find new ways of seeing each other. Taking part in a Book Group builds agency and awareness for individuals and builds (or strengthens) relationships between group members.

If you'd like to host a book group in your community, applications are open until August 18. Apply and learn more on our website!

08/03/2026

This project by Wolfe's Neck Center with Jennifer Neptune (Penobscot) is supported by a Maine Humanities 2026 Major Grant. Learn more!

08/03/2026

We're back from our July sabbatical, well rested and ready to re-engage with our work. Thank you for your patience with us as we took the time we needed to recharge.

07/21/2026

REMINDER: Our upcoming talk with Maine Author Lewis Robinson is on July 27th at 6pm on Zoom! And it's not too late to sign up. Head to the link in our bio to get a link sent to your inbox.

06/30/2026

Our team here at Maine Humanities is taking the month of July to truly slow down. We are taking the month as a time of rest, respite, and sabbatical. We work and live in a culture that often moves too fast for us to pause, reflect, and readjust. At Maine Humanities, we have realized that keeping this constant pace does not help us do our best work. We need space to reset our brains and our bodies so that we can return to our work and our partnerships with clearer minds and hearts.

To this end, our offices will be closed for the month of July. We are not the first non-profit to adopt a sabbatical month. We have learned from other non-profits we work with and are inspired by here in Maine. We are grateful to Wabanaki REACH for sharing these words about their own organization-wide sabbatical: “How many of us have spent countless hours staring into our computers with back-to-back meetings, events, and obligations? Scheduling and rescheduling? This type of stress gets trapped in our bodies and we need time to unplug and to just ‘be.’”

After taking the month of July to “unplug and just be,” we will enthusiastically resume our work at the beginning of August. If you have been eyeing our Read ME program, the July opening date for Book Group, or the August opening dates for our Mini Grants and Maine Speaks applications, please know that the Read ME program will continue through the summer months, including July, and our summer applications will be opening as planned. Please visit our website for videos and information to help you prepare. If you are a current program partner and you have questions about the status of your particular program, please get in touch with your designated program staff.


“You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.”

-Tricia Hersey

06/29/2026

Read ME toolkits are available to anyone who’s interested! Just head over to our website and you’ll find tons of activities related to our Youth Read ME picks!

Tag Maine Humanities if you post about your creations!

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Read ME is Maine Humanities’ statewide community read offered in partnership with Maine State Library and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. Every summer, the program gets Mainers all reading books by Maine authors.