It’s been a little over a month-and-a-half since Humanities Montana learned that a loss of federal grant funding had eliminated about 90% of its annual budget, and the nonprofit, which supports humanities programs, events and projects in the Flathead Valley and statewide, is continuing to try and plan for an uncertain future.
The grant, which was for a little over $900,000 a year through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), was cut in early April by the Trump Administration’s Department of Governmental Efficiency as part of widespread cuts to the NEH that have curtailed its ability to continue funding state humanities councils.
Humanities Montana traces its beginnings to 1972, when a delegation of Montanans was invited to Washington, D.C., to meet with NEH officials about forming a state humanities council in Montana. Among the first federally funded events put on by the nascent state humanities council, paid for by a $155,000 grant, was a conference in Helena called “Political Power and Human Values in Montana.”
Humanities Montana is now essentially planning for two scenarios – one in which it continues to receive some form of NEH funding, and another in which, as Executive Director Jill Baker put it, “we would have to entirely change our business model and become a privately funded nonprofit.”
A recent $200,000 gift from the Mellon Foundation, part of $15 million distributed to state humanities councils in the aftermath of the funding cuts, will help Humanities Montana “bridge this gap” until there’s more certainty about future funding, according to Baker.
In the intervening weeks since the grant funding cuts were announced, Baker said that most of its programs have been paused as the nonprofit tries to figure out what will happen going forward. A red banner on the Humanities Montana website informs visitors that, “In light of recent events involving deep cuts to the NEH and the termination of general operating support grants to all state humanities councils, Humanities Montana is currently unable to offer programs and grants.”
There’s an opportunity for the Mellon funding to increase to $300,000 total if Humanities Montana can hit a $50,000 matching benchmark by December. So far, about $3,000 has been raised for the matching grant, but prior to the Mellon funding being announced, Baker said Humanities Montana had managed to raise $120,000 in April.
Still, Baker said her organization is about $500,000 short of its budget for this year.
A 2023 financial report available on the Humanities Montana website says that the organization received $817,342 in NEH funding for that fiscal year, and went on to distribute $555,675 through a combination of programs ($371,045) and grants ($184,631). In describing the impact of Humanities Montana, baker emphasized the impact it has in rural communities, particularly where there may not be local arts and humanities-oriented organizations with the resources to bring programming to the area.
In the last fiscal year the nonprofit provided a little over $33,000 in funding for events and projects in the Flathead Valley, which went towards programs focusing on Montana history, poetry, Salish storytelling, community dance, and writing.
That funding included a “mini grant” of $1,910.80 toward an exhibition, mural painting demonstration and artist talk by the Blackfeet artist Terran Last Gun at the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, and a $4,174 Community Project Grant for the inaugural Northwest Montana Book Festival, which was hosted by the Northwest Montana History Museum and the Northwest Montana Historical Society.
An interactive map on the Humanities Montana website intended to show its impact statewide, indicates that of the 491 presentations that took place in 2024 as part of its Speakers in the Schools program, 20 took place across Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Whitefish. Additionally, 12 of its Montana Conversations events took place in the Flathead.
Montana Conversations are described by Humanities Montana as events in which, “Trained facilitators and experts lead workshops and conversations on topics like current affairs, untold histories, native cultures, literature, and more.” With both the Montana Conversations and Speakers in the Schools programs, Humanities Montana’s records show that more than 60% took place in rural communities.
Some of Humanities Montana’s other established programs include its support for the position of the state poet laureate, and its Montana Reads and Montana Writes programs, which bring in authors, sponsor workshops and support libraries, book clubs, writing groups and schools.
Some programs, like a branch of the Democracy Project at the Columbia Falls High School library, have managed to secure funding to continue, according to Baker. The Democracy Project is described by Humanities Montana as a six-month, civic-engagement oriented “teen-led, non-partisan initiative supported by local libraries” that “gives teens the resources to meet community needs while learning their role in an evolving democracy.”
Looking back to the lead-up to the announcement that grant funding would be cut, Baker said that her organization was watching closely as attempts at freezing federal spending began to take place under the new administration, and that they came to expect a loss of funding to a limited degree.
“We were anticipating cuts,” Baker said. “We were not necessarily anticipating a complete termination of our grant.”
Humanities Montana is continuing to explore legal options, and has also applied for grant funding for the next fiscal year, even as the future of the NEH and NEA remains under threat.
In recent weeks, President Donald Trump’s Administration has also submitted a budget proposal to Congress calling for the elimination of the NEH and the NEA, endowments which have been around since the 1960s, and have provided major nationwide funding for the arts and humanities.
The recent budget proposal echoes a proposal from the president during his first term that called for an end to both endowments. As the New York Times reported earlier in May, bipartisan support in Congress back in 2017 kept the endowments alive, and their budgets actually increased during Trump’s first term.
Baker said that she thinks that the way communities show up to humanities-based events, and have an appetite for more, is a sign that there remains a lot of support in Montana for the work her organization does.
“It’s challenging, because it’s kind of the inner fabric of communities. Bringing people together, having conversations, providing learning opportunities for everyone. And so I think what happens is that as this fabric is tested and disappears. It’s not always recognized, because it’s just been incorporated in part of our everyday experience, and because Humanities Montana works through partners.”