Grants Support Cultural Programs Across Louisiana
With support from the State of Louisiana in 2025, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities awarded $65,000 in funds to cultural organizations throughout the state.
The awards included for the first time six Program Mini Grants, which provide support for small-scale projects that engage local audiences with Louisiana scholars to explore the history, foodways, folkways, music, and culture that make Louisiana’s towns, parishes, and state so unique.
Also included are eight Strategic Partnership grants, which support high-impact humanities programming such as the Banners at McNeese State University cultural season.
“The [LEH] is a lifeline for regions like ours—places that are culturally rich, deeply storied, and often under-resourced,” said Dr. Brook Hanemann, director of Banners at McNeese State University. “In Southwest Louisiana, where we have faced four federally declared natural disasters in rapid succession, organizations like LEH are not just important—they’re absolutely vital. Our stories, our traditions, our humanities are fragile when infrastructure is broken and attention is elsewhere. LEH helps us protect, amplify, and celebrate the things that make us who we are.”
One final grant will support Folklife Month, which honors Louisiana’s tradition bearers throughout October.
See below for the full list of grant recipients.
2025 Strategic Partnership Grants
LEH awards Strategic Partnership grants to organizations producing high-impact humanities programming. These organizations represent longtime, trusted partners in geographically diverse areas of the state.
Festivals Acadiens et Creoles, Inc.
Festivals Acadiens et Creoles
Lafayette, Lafayette Parish
$8,000
New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University
2025 New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University
New Orleans, Orleans Parish
$8,000
Banners at McNeese State University
Banners 2025 Cultural Season
Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish
$8,000
HARK
HARK Festival 2025
Rodessa, Caddo Parish
$8,000
One Book One New Orleans
Words & Music Festival 2025
New Orleans, Orleans Parish
$4,000
Whitney Plantation
Whitney Plantation Juneteenth Celebration
Wallace, St. John Parish
$4,000
Northwestern State University of Louisiana
2025 Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival
Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish
$8,000
Louisiana Library Foundation
Louisiana Book Festival
Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish
$8,000
2025 Program Mini Grants
The new Program Mini Grants provides support for small-scale projects with limited scope and costs that offer an access point for organizations seeking to expand into public humanities programming. Programs should engage local audiences with Louisiana scholars to explore the history, foodways, folkways, music, and culture that make Louisiana’s towns, parishes, and state so unique.
Pointe Coupee Historical Society
Poydras Center Agriculture Exhibit
New Roads, Pointe Coupee Parish
$1,000
Friends of the Terrebonne Public Library
20th Annual Jambalaya Writers’ Conference Lunch and Listen
Houma, Terrebonne Parish
$1,000
LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana
Louisiana Queer Arts–Harter/Scott Exhibition and Panel Discussion
New Orleans, Orleans Parish
$1,000
Eunice Public Library
Eunice Library Speakers Series
Eunice, St. Landry Parish
$1,000
Shadows-on-the-Teche
LouisianaART
New Iberia, Iberia Parish
$1,000
Opelousas Museum & Interpretive Center
Return of the Xactci Dance
Opelousas, St. Landry Parish
$1,000
2025 Folklife Month Grant
The LEH Folklife Month Grant supports Louisiana Folklife Month through a grant of $3,000 to the Louisiana Folklore Society. Tradition bearers are honored at a variety of public events during the month of October. Be on the lookout for the Fall Issue of 64 Parishes where you can learn more about this year’s honorees.
More details about LEH’s grant programs may be found at www.leh.org/grants. To support the work of the LEH, visit www.leh.org/support-join.