CFVI Awards Nearly $300,000 to Support Humanities Programming

CFVI Awards Nearly $300,000 to Support Humanities Programming
Admin
August 19, 2026 / 5 mins read

From digitizing century-old artifacts to documenting ancestral dance traditions, the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI), serving as the Humanities Council of the Virgin Islands (HCVI), has awarded nearly $300,000 in grants to 13 organizations and individuals across the U.S. Virgin Islands working to preserve, share and celebrate the humanities and Caribbean culture.

The grants, ranging from $7,500 to $25,000, will fund projects across six focus areas:

  • Digital preservation: expanding public access to Caribbean stories and history through digitization
  • Music and dance: documenting ancestral musical and dance traditions before they're lost
  • Art: exploring cultural narratives through artistic expression and poetry
  • Historical archiving: preserving and exhibiting pivotal eras such as the Danish West Indies Transfer and the 1848 Emancipation
  • Documentary film: capturing Caribbean storytelling for future generations
  • Public education: bringing history to life through literacy initiatives, showcases, exhibits and community events

“Every community in the Virgin Islands has a story worth preserving and sharing,” said Dee Baecher-Brown, president of CFVI. “As the Humanities Council of the Virgin Islands, we are proud to invest in organizations that are documenting our history, celebrating our culture, preserving our heritage and creating opportunities for residents and visitors to better understand what makes the Virgin Islands so unique.”

This year’s awardees include The Children’s Museum of St. Croix, The Center for Educational Growth and the United Jazz Foundation, amongst four other organizations and five individuals. The majority of projects received the maximum award of $25,000.

Funding was made possible through investments of $173,361 from the National Endowment for the Humanities and $125,000 from the Federation of State Humanities Councils, with support from the Mellon Foundation.

As the Humanities Council of the Virgin Islands, CFVI works to strengthen the territory’s cultural landscape by supporting grantmaking, public humanities programming, community engagement, advocacy and capacity building. Through its grantmaking, CFVI and HCVI seek to preserve the territory’s rich history while fostering civic dialogue, cultural understanding and educational opportunities accessible to all residents.

To learn more about CFVI’s role as the Humanities Council of the Virgin Islands or to discover grants supporting work in the humanities and more, visit www.cfvi.net/HCVI