St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Croix Foundation for Community Development (SCF) is pleased to announce a transformative investment in St. Croix’s rich cultural landscape from the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program. The $1 Million grant award will support St. Croix Foundation’s Healing Humanities Initiative, a visionary effort that goes beyond traditional regranting and infrastructure development to actively restore, amplify, and mobilize the humanities as a vehicle for healing and social transformation.
The Mellon Foundation’s award will fuel two significant aspects of the Healing Humanities project:
- A Half-Million Dollar Regranting Program for Local Nonprofits – Over half a million dollars will be awarded to nonprofit organizations engaged in cultural place-keeping, arts, and humanities projects, allowing St. Croix Foundation to deepen our investment in preserving and celebrating our rich Crucian history, traditions and visions. The grant cycle is set to open in March 2025, providing funding opportunities for eligible nonprofits working to strengthen the cultural fabric of our community.
- The Revitalization of Sunday Market Square & the Alexander Theater – The historic Alexander Theater, a long-dormant community space, is set to become a 22,000+ square-foot performing arts and cultural center, serving as a hub for artistic expression, storytelling, and heritage preservation, while also functioning as a community disaster shelter. The current phase of work is focused on architectural and engineering design, ensuring that the new spaces reflect the unique cultural heritage of St. Croix while addressing community needs. To that end, the Mellon funding will support a portion of the Theater and Acoustic Design, as well as Archival Research, Historic Analysis, Curation of Oral Histories, Community Engagement, and Exhibit Design and Planning for Sunday Market Square’s transformation.
“We are incredibly grateful for the Mellon Foundation’s commitment to supporting our rich Crucian cultural landscape,” said Deanna James, President & CEO of St. Croix Foundation. “This investment is a powerful and timely affirmation of the vital work that St. Croix Foundation and our longstanding partners in the arts, culture, and preservation space are doing to safeguard our community’s history and build a more resilient and inclusive future.”
Nonprofits interested in applying for the upcoming grant cycle should contact Paloma McGregor at pmcgregor@stxfoundation.org for more information.
For updates on the upcoming Healing Humanities grant cycle and the progress of the Sunday Market Square revitalization, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/STXFoundation.
About St. Croix Foundation for Community Development
Founded in 1990, St. Croix Foundation is a place-based philanthropic organization committed to holistic community development. As a trusted fiscal sponsor, grantmaker, and community convener, SCF has directed over $50 million in investments into the U.S. Virgin Islands, focusing on community revitalization, nonprofit capacity building, education, economic development, and cultural preservation.
About the Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.
About Sunday Market Square’s Healing Humanities Initiative
Sunday Market Square holds deep cultural significance. As one of the oldest planned public squares under the U.S. flag, the Square is located in downtown Christiansted and represents a unique history linked to Denmark’s colonization on the island of St. Croix from 1733 to 1917. Serving as a center for trading among enslaved Crucians, the Square was a designated convening space where enslaved Africans and free Blacks were permitted to sell produce, trade goods, connect with loved ones, and socialize in the marketplace on some Sundays – their only day off from forced labor. While it remained a popular gathering spot for residents through the 1900s, after several decades of neglect, coupled with the devastation of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the Square fell into disrepair.