Esmond Station Student Oral History Project with Lucy Haro, courtesy Vail Preservation Society

Congratulations to the Vail Preservation Society! The Vail Preservation Society (VPS) recently received the $10,000 Storying Arizona Grant. VPS will use the grant for their oral history project Celebrating Every Voice. Students and community members will record and share Vail's history through a variety of efforts, story slams and community conversations in Vail, Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff.

Arizona Humanities will share more news from this special initiative in the future.

	Mini Grant Recipient: BreakBeat Poets Workshops and Performance, 2016

Are you looking for funding to support humanities programs this year? Mini Grants are small grants of up to $2,000 that are available on a rolling basis to support innovative public programs that increase understanding of the human experience.

	FRANK Talk at Chandler Public Library

Take part in thought-provoking, expert-facilitated discussions on important current issues. FRANK Talks inspire people to practice the skills of citizenship - to listen respectfully, and to engage thoughtfully with one another and are brought to you by a partnership between Arizona Humanities and the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, 

Click here to view current list of FRANK Talks topics and scholars.

Pueblo Grande Museum Drop-In Discovery Saturdays (January 21)

Every third Saturday of the month through April, enjoy free, fun, educational programs on the back patio at Pueblo Grande Museum. On Saturday, January 21st, join Ron Carlos, Maricopa Potter and Jacob Butler, Onk Akimel O'Odham Artist, on the back patio for a drop-in informational program and demonstration about the process of making pottery. Click here to learn more.

Baca Float Ranch Movie Event in Green Valley (January 21)

In southern Arizona, Baca Float Ranch was located south of Canoa Ranch before it became Rio Rico. The ranch no longer exists. The Bottom of the Bottle, a 1956 Fox Movie production, shares author Georges Simenon's perception of the people who lived on Baca Float Ranch, and their social lifestyle. Scholar Gregory McNamee offers a lively look into the movies made and stars who shared stories of western lifestyles in and around Canoa, followed by a viewing of a locally inspired 1956 film. Click here to learn more.

Examine issues of equity and diversity in our school system with Angelina Castagno from Northern Arizona University on Thursday, January 19th. Castagno, an educational anthropologist, will share her research on the ways students and communities engage systems of race and power.

When: Thursday, January 19th - 6:45-8:30 p.m. (Talk and Q&A)

Where: Arizona Humanities - 1242 N. Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85004

Free event with light refreshments included. 

RSVP through eventbrite: 

https://authortalkangelina.eventbrite.com

Are you a member or do you volunteer for your Friends of the Library group? Friends of Libraries are important organizations that support local libraries in communities throughout Arizona. Friends groups help with fundraising, advocacy, literacy programs, and so much more. Join your library and support your peers from around the state at the Arizona Friends of Libraries Conference, featuring keynote speaker Jana Bommersbach.

When: January 21, 2017 from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Where: Burton Barr Central Library, 1221 N Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004

	Image from the Water/Way exhibit, courtesy of the Florida Humanities Council

With the holidays over and the new years resolutions filling up your to-do lists, just a reminder the deadline to submit your application to host the Smithsonian's Water/Ways exhibit is March 1, 2017. 

In it's most recent announcement of awards, NEH grants will support a variety of humanities-based research and programs. NEH Chairman William D. Adams shared, "The humanities help us study our past, understand our present, and prepare for our future. The National Endowment for the Humanities is proud to support projects that will benefit all Americans and remind us of our shared human experience." 

One grant was awarded to Arizona: Arizona State University received a $46,200 grant for fellowships for advanced research on Japan. Project Director Aaron S. Moore will lead "Engineering Asian Development: The Cold War and Japan's Post-Colonial Power in Asia." Click here to read more about the NEH grant recipients.

Interested in learning about NEH grant opportunities for your organization? Click here to learn more about grants and deadlines.

The National Day of Racial Healing and the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) initiative focus on transformation in America - a nation that was conceived in the constitution and built on a belief in racial hierarchy, a collective national consciousness that has dominated the educational, economic, social and legal discourse for centuries. Supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the National Day of Racial Healing is a by-product of TRHT's effort to provide a collective commitment and long-term determination to embrace a new narrative for the nation, a belief in our common humanity. The goal is to be a nation united and free of racial biases. 

Phoenix events will include storytelling on the light rail and a strorytelling performance at the A.E. England Building at Civic Space Park in downtown Phoenix. Visit www.dayofracialhealing.com to learn more.

	Rosemarie Dombrowski, via ASU Now

Congratulations to poet, teacher, and literary advocate Rosemarie Dombrowski who will serve as the first Poet Laureate for the City of Phoenix. Supported by the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture and the Phoenix Public Library, Dombrowski will begin a two-year term starting this month. She will give public readings, compose poems for special occasions, and work on a special project with a focus on education.

Applications for Tucson's next poet laureate are now open! Supported by the City of Tucson, Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, and University of Arizona Poetry Center Tucson's next poet laureate will "promote poetry and an appreciation of poetry amongst the general public and to inspire an emerging generation of literary artists and readers of literature." Nominations are due February 1st and the selected individual will serve a two- year term to begin March 1st.

• January 16 - Office Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday 
• March 1 - Water/Ways Smithsonian Exhibit Application Deadline

Mission: Arizona Humanities builds a just and civil society by creating opportunities to explore our shared human experiences through discussion, learning and reflection.

Arizona Humanities is a statewide 501(c)3 non-profit organization and the Arizona affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Arizona Humanities supports public programs that promote understanding of the human experience with cultural, educational, and non-profit organizations across Arizona.