The West Virginia Humanities Council aims to support and promote public humanities programming for audiences in West Virginia. Through their efforts, they facilitate understanding and appreciation of the humanities, encompassing a wide range of disciplines, to foster a deep sense of the human condition, heritage, and the relevance of humanities in contemporary society.
The grant program offered by the West Virginia Humanities Council aims to support various humanities projects through matching grants made available to non-profit organizations. These projects include lectures, school initiatives, symposiums, panel discussions, reading and discussion series, exhibits, re-encounters, and conferences, among others. The goal is to engage West Virginia audiences with meaningful humanities programming that explores values, ideas, and the human condition. Each project is required to involve at least one humanities scholar to ensure informed oversight and content-specific expertise. This could be a credentialed academic scholar, an expert practitioner of a living tradition, or a community member with significant experience in the relevant content area. The grants have historically facilitated diverse programming, including theater festivals, permanent exhibits, archaeological digs, book festivals, and educational exhibits along historic trails.