The mission of Nevada Humanities is to connect and transform communities by sharing and amplifying the stories, ideas, experiences, and traditions of the diverse people of Nevada. It aims to create and support public programs across the state that articulate the Nevada experience and facilitate the exploration of issues important to Nevadans and their communities. These programs focus on preserving local culture and heritage, improving quality of life, enhancing education, and contributing to the state's economic health by stimulating heritage tourism and supporting the nonprofit cultural industry.
The Planning Grant provided by Nevada Humanities supports primarily the preparatory stages of humanities projects that may lead to a larger Nevada Humanities Major Project Grant proposal. These grants can be used to hire humanities scholars or consultants, conduct strategic planning for humanities organizations, host planning meetings, or facilitate planning for a humanities project. Eligible projects are diverse and dynamic, including media programs, exhibitions, public forums and discussions, workshops, research with public components, publications, educational initiatives, digital productions, and more. These projects draw upon the humanities to address significant issues and enrich Nevada’s cultural life, exploring themes such as state and local history, civic engagement, social justice, and contemporary concerns. Humanities organizations, which have a mission explicitly connected to the humanities and a history of humanities-focused work, are typically the producers of such projects. However, Nevada Humanities also encourages partnerships across different fields that use the humanities to link diverse areas of inquiry. A successful application must demonstrate the humanities as central to the project, with active participation from humanities scholars who bring specialized knowledge, encouraging exploration and community dialogue.