In response to a request by Illinois Humanities for her thoughts on the significance of the humanities and of the Public Humanities Award, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, 2019 Award recipient, provided the following inspiring piece.

For my money
the Humanities
are a kind of everlasting Rosetta Stone.
Why?
Why,
because the Humanities
decipher/reveal/explain
what and how
(then and now)
the human heart, mind, soul, and senses
understand/interpret/navigate the World.

The World we find,
The World we dream,
The World we make
for ourselves and the rest of us.

Who does not need such wisdom?
How can we live fulfilled without it?
Note these recent turbulent days and nights as testament.

The Illinois Humanities Award
acknowledged the value of my life’s work in the Arts,
confirmed the rightness of my calling,
and challenged me to make even greater strides
in the time I have left to do so.

For this I remain humbled and grateful.

— Cheryl Lynn Bruce, 2020