Humanities Heart to Heart Wins National Award
“The stories and experiences shared as a part of Humanities Heart to Heart have brought us together during the most challenging of times. In our work at Nevada Humanities, we understand the humanities to be lived by all, and Humanities Heart to Heart - through its stories and ideas shared by a wide variety of people - gives us an inspirational archive of the thoughts of Nevadans and their communities in this pandemic moment and beyond.”
Nevada Humanities is thrilled to share news that Humanities Heart to Heart, a virtual storytelling program of Nevada Humanities, has won the 2021 Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize for outstanding public humanities programming conducted or supported by a state humanities council in 2020. The Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize, awarded by the Federation of State Humanities Councils, was established in 1982 as an endowment by founding Board Member Martin Schwartz and his wife Helen. This is the highest honor awarded to humanities councils by the humanities community. Nevada Humanities shared the honor with the Minnesota Humanities Center, who also received a 2021 Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize for their program How Can We Breathe, in a virtual ceremony held at the National Humanities Conference on November 12, 2021.
Humanities Heart to Heart, Nevada Humanities’ first entirely virtual program, was created in response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. Envisioned in April 2020 and launched in July 2020, Humanities Heart to Heart is an ongoing program series that features commissioned essays and creative works by a wide spectrum of Nevadans about the day-to-day concerns of what it means to be human in a time of isolation, loneliness, uncertainty, and cycles of rebuilding and retreat. Schwartz Prize judges praised the way this program promoted creative activity across multiple media platforms, embraced a wide variety of participants, and inspired deep collaboration with community organizations around the state.
Nevada Humanities is honored to receive the Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize for this work, and we share this award with all of the participants of Humanities Heart to Heart.
Is there a story that you or someone you know might like to share with us as a part of Humanities Heart to Heart? E-mail Kathleen Kuo, Nevada Humanities Program Manager and curator of Humanities Heart to Heart, at kkuo@nevadahumanities.org if you are interested. We would love to hear from you.
