Yesáh Community House is a modern day long-house for the Monacan Indian Nation and annual powwow. Photo By Lauren Trice
Sharing and rediscovering overlooked Appalachian stories is at the center of a multimillion-dollar grant initiative to fund community-led projects that bring undertold regional stories into public view. Monuments Across Appalachian Places (MAAP) is a Mellon Foundation-funded grant initiative housed at Virginia Tech and is searching for community organizations, artists, educators, advocates, and other memory-keepers across Central Appalachia to propose projects for new and reimagined ways to commemorate the region, its people, and our shared histories.
“Appalachian history overall is often excluded from the national narrative, and the struggle of historically suppressed people to be acknowledged is intensified in this region,” says Sarah Anderson, a historic preservation planner in East Tennessee. “Their stories are crucial to our understanding of American history, of ourselves, and of the vitality of the human spirit.”
Some past MAAP-supported projects have included a music festival and album celebrating the sounds and stories of the Latine-Appalachian community, the construction of a modern longhouse for the Monacan Indian Nation and their annual powwow, a statue honoring United States Colored Troops from Franklin County, Virginia, and trails and interpretive exhibits celebrating the Appalachian relationship with the natural world.
MAAP uses Monument Lab’s definition of a monument as “a statement of power and presence in public” and encourages project proposals that expand traditional ideas of what a monument can be, recognizing that the commemoration of these stories and communities is itself monumental.
“What we’re looking for are grassroots efforts to amplify histories of people taking action together for the common good in ways that reconfigure how we think about Appalachia,” says Dr. Emily Satterwhite, MAAP Co-Director. “MAAP-funded projects move beyond traditional monuments, embodying the rediscovery, reshaping, and reimagining of Appalachia through the preservation, celebration, and sharing of the region’s rich and complex stories.”
Project proposals may include sculptures, spaces of reflection, exhibits, interpretive signage, performances, festivals, oral history initiatives, archival projects, and other forms of public commemoration. Applicants may explore themes such as collective struggle, environmental stewardship, migration, and cultural creativity.
Applications are due Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. Prospective applicants are encouraged to attend an MAAP Commemorate workshop to learn more about monument making and the grant creation process.
For more information on attending a workshop, past MAAP projects, eligibility, and how to apply, visit MoreMountainStories.org.
