The mission of the Arkansas Humanities Council is to promote understanding, appreciation, and use of the humanities in Arkansas. The council emphasizes the importance of humanities in reflecting diverse heritage, traditions, and history, alongside the relevance of humanities in current national conditions.
The Arkansas Humanities Council supports a variety of innovative, humanities-based projects that aim to connect Arkansans to the past, to each other, to their communities, and to the broad scope of the humanities. The Council's grant program particularly backs projects that reflect the diverse heritage, traditions, and history of Arkansas and relate the humanities to contemporary issues within the state. Supported projects include documentary film preproduction and production specifically related to Arkansas subjects, such as historical figures, events, culture, archaeology, and more. Applicants for film projects must provide detailed plans including schedules, expertise of the filmographer, research concepts, and plans for interviews or distribution as applicable.