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Illinois Humanities

Chicago, Illinois

Grants

2024 (2 years)
$150,000

Founded in 1974, Illinois Humanities (IH) is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities. IH provides high-quality humanities experiences throughout the state, with a focus on supporting communities of color, individuals living on low incomes, rural counties and towns, small arts and cultural organizations, and communities highly impacted by mass incarceration. This final award follows previous support to IH for Envisioning Justice, a program that connects humanists and artists to bear witness to the injustices of the criminal justice system through exhibits, programs, and grantmaking. Since its inception in 2017, Envisioning Justice has evolved, from a model that supports and empowers organizations and partners at the local level to a state and national network that uses the tools of narrative change, program development, and movement building to imagine more affirmative systems of justice. This award enables IH to continue its local partnership in Chicago and across Illinois, provide capacity-building resources to help strengthen the sector, and solidify core programming as it grows nationally and positions itself for long-term sustainability.

2024 (1 year)
$50,000

Illinois Humanities, the Illinois affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities that foster reflection, spark conversation, build community, and strengthen civic engagement. Illinois Humanities intentionally engages communities of color, individuals living on low incomes, counties and towns in rural areas, small arts and cultural organizations, and communities highly affected by mass incarceration.

This award supports a national convening to be held in Chicago bringing together leaders, activists, and individuals with lived experiences of incarceration from across the country to explore the intersection of humanities and the criminal legal system.

The convening seeks to develop models for how the arts and humanities can address and promote awareness about the injustice of mass incarceration.

2022 (1 year)
$20,000

Founded in 1973, the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) is an educational organization working to create a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of Illinois communities by providing high-quality civic discussions, programming, performances, and other exhibitions. Illinois Humanities’ Envisioning Justice program connects artists and humanists with residents affected by the criminal justice system in interpreting and shaping reform in Chicago and throughout the state of Illinois. This award provides support for IHC to convene Envisioning Justice Network members throughout the state of Illinois. 

2022 (3 years)
$225,000

Illinois Humanities, the Illinois affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities that foster reflection, spark conversation, build community, and strengthen civic engagement. Illinois Humanities intentionally engages communities of color, individuals living on low incomes, counties and towns in rural areas, small arts and cultural organizations, and communities highly affected by mass incarceration. This award provides general operating support to Illinois Humanities as part of the Foundation’s Culture, Equity, and the Arts program.

2021 (1 year)
$7,880

Illinois Humanities, the Illinois affiliate of the National Endowment for the Arts founded in 1974, is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities that foster reflection, spark conversation, build community, and strengthen civic engagement.  Founded in 1974, Illinois Humanities is supported by state, federal, and private funds. 

The Envisioning Justice Network is a coalition of Chicago-based arts and humanities organizations building collective power toward the abolition of the carceral state who have collaborated with Illinois Humanities through Envisioning Justice since its inception in 2017.  The Convening will gather individuals and arts organizations using the arts and humanities to address the impacts of mass incarceration in communities throughout Illinois.  This Illinois Humanities two-day event seeks to provide opportunities for Envisioning Justice partners to connect with one another through facilitated discussions, arts-based activities, and presentations relevant to those working to end the injustice of mass incarceration. Illinois Humanities anticipates a total of approximately 50 individuals from seven statewide communities to attend this convening.

2021 (2 years)
$275,000

Founded in 1973, the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) is an education organization working to create a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of Illinois communities by providing high-quality civic discussions, programming, performances, and other exhibitions. This award follows previous support to IHC for Envisioning Justice, initially a short-term initiative that began in 2017, connecting artists and humanists with residents affected by the criminal justice system in interpreting and shaping reform in Chicago. IHC also convenes and supports the Envisioning Justice Network, an evolving collective of artists and activists that began collaborating as a part of the Envisioning Justice Initiative. This award enables IHC to formally transition Envisioning Justice into a permanent statewide program, to incorporate content generated by, and in partnership with, Envisioning Justice community partners, to facilitate and support the growth and development of the Envisioning Justice Network, and to reflect the goals of Envisioning Justice in their own grantmaking to community organizations.

2021 ( 3 months)
$2,500

Illinois Humanities Council aims to improve civic dialogue and increase public access to the humanities throughout the State of Illinois. It offers year-round humanities programs on issues related to public policy, media and journalism, business, and art, and it improves access to humanities education and programming. This award supports professional development opportunities for three staff members to strengthen project management and financial management skills.

2020 (1 year)
$50,000

For over 45 years, Illinois Humanities Council (the Council) has been committed to ensuring access to the humanities for everyone in Illinois. Using the humanities as a tool to stimulate civic engagement and discussion, the Council creates experiences across the state through free public programming, exhibitions, education, and grant making in order to engage a diverse public on ideas and issues that matter. This award follows previous support to the Council in leading the development and execution of Envisioning Justice, a series of events and a body of programming including commissioned artwork, public presentations, community discussions, and a culminating public exhibition, which connected artists and humanists with residents affected by the criminal justice system in interpreting and shaping reform in Chicago. Seven community hubs throughout the city in neighborhoods deeply affected by over-incarceration were at the core of the project. This award enables the Council to fund the continued convening and development of this emerging Envisioning Justice network, whose members are dedicated to leveraging their collective power to shift the public’s imagining of justice.

2019 (2 years 6 months)
$250,000

Founded in 1973, the Illinois Humanities Council (the Council) is an education organization working to create a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of Illinois communities by providing high-quality civic discussions, programming, performances, and other exhibitions. This award follows previous support to the Council in leading the development and execution of Envisioning Justice, a series of events and a body of programming including commissioned artwork, public presentations, community discussions, and a culminating public exhibition, which connected artists and humanists with residents affected by the criminal justice system in interpreting and shaping reform in Chicago. At the core of the effort are seven community hubs throughout the city - five in neighborhoods deeply affected by over-incarceration, one in the pre-trial detention facility for youth, and one in Cook County jail. The hubs serve as centers for the arts and humanities communities to bring a diverse array of stakeholders and the public into discussions around criminal justice reform in Chicago. This award enables the Council to fund the continued participation of community hubs in work catalyzed by Envisioning Justice, the development and convening of an Envisioning Justice network, and amplification of Envisioning Justice throughout Illinois and the nation as a whole.

2019 ( 4 months)
$50,000

Illinois Humanities’ mission is to strengthen the social, political, and economic fabric of Illinois through constructive conversation and community engagement. Utilizing art, music, literature, and other humanities as tools to stimulate discussion, they create experiences across Illinois through programming, events, and grantmaking to engage a diverse public on critical issues.

Envisioning Justice is a two-year initiative of the Illinois Humanities that engages Chicagoans in a citywide conversation about the criminal justice system. Participants from a cross-section of neighborhoods engage multimedia to re-envision a system that fosters justice, accountability, safety, support, and restoration for all people affected by crime and violence. Envisioning Justice centers the voices of those most affected by these issues while educating Chicagoans about the complexities of the criminal justice system and its outcomes. Envisioning Justice leverages the arts to connect diverse perspectives and people from across the city to examine how mass incarceration harms local communities — and help devise strategies to mitigate and reimagine the effects of the criminal justice system to make it  fairer, more just, and equitable. The major components of Envisioning Justice include partnerships between seven artists and Community Hubs and a culminating exhibition and compendium of the artwork and other creations developed throughout the course of the program.

2018 ( 3 months)
$25,000

Illinois Humanities aims to improve civic dialogue and increase public access to the humanities throughout the State of Illinois. It offers year-round humanities programs on issues related to public policy, media and journalism, business, art, and improving access to humanities education and programming. This project grant provides support to Illinois Humanities’ annual People Powered Publishing Conference, a national gathering in Chicago that highlights innovative practices and projects building stronger connections between news media and the publics they cover. This two-day conference brings together journalists, civic-engagement specialists, and community storytellers to create a more collaborative and equitable news landscape that extends well beyond newsrooms to consider how educators, artists, technologists, and community organizers contribute to a healthy news and information ecosystem.

2017 (2 years)
$1,500,000

Founded in 1973, the Illinois Humanities Council (the Council) is an education organization working to create a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of Illinois communities by providing high-quality civic discussions, programming, performances, and other exhibitions. Following previous support to engage in a planning process for the project, this award supports the Council in leading the development and execution of Envisioning Justice, a series of events and a body of programming including artist commissions, public presentations, exhibition design, and community discussions connecting artists and humanists with residents in interpreting and shaping criminal justice reform in Chicago. The Council aims to develop at the core of the effort six community hubs throughout the city to serve as centers for the arts and humanities communities to bring a diverse array of stakeholders and the public into discussions around criminal justice reform in Chicago.

2017 (5 years)
$300,000

The Illinois Humanities Council aims to improve civic dialogue and increase public access to the humanities throughout the State of Illinois. It offers year-round humanities programs on issues related to public policy, media and journalism, business, art, and improving access to humanities education and programming. Over the award period, Illinois Humanities is focusing on community-sourced programming and expanding local collaborations in its five core areas. This award recommends five years of renewed general operating support to the Illinois Humanities Council.

2016 (1 year)
$125,000

Founded in 1973, the Illinois Humanities Council (the Council) is an education organization working to create a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of Illinois communities by providing high-quality civic discussions, programming, performances, and other exhibitions. This award supports the Council to lead a planning process to develop Envisioning Justice, a series of events including artist commissions, public presentations, exhibition design, and community discussions that will connect artists and humanists with residents in interpreting and shaping criminal justice reform in Chicago. The project includes creating an advisory group to guide the planning process as well as gathering information from community residents about the issues, leading to a proposal for a year-long effort to engage and connect members of the arts and humanities community with a diverse array of stakeholders and the public in discussions around criminal justice reform in Chicago.

2014 (3 years)
$157,500

The Illinois Humanities Council is an education organization that works to create a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities throughout the State of Illinois. The Council was started in 1973 and offers year-round humanities programs in various formats such as facilitated discussion groups focused on contemporary social issues, educational programs, performances, exhibitions, and film screenings. Additionally, the Council supports Illinois nonprofit organizations with small grants to develop their own humanities programming. Each year the Council serves approximately 500,000 individuals through its own programming and reaches another million through its grants. This grant will support the Council’s general operations.

2012 ( 11 months)
$250,000

The Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) is an educational organization dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. IHC is planning a national competition for Democracy Stories, short and engaging media expressions about democracy and government. The Democracy Stories competition seeks to stimulate constructive conversations about democratic values and systems, urge people to think about government institutions in new ways, and appeal to Americans’ commonly shared beliefs and principles about our republic.

2012 (1 year)
$10,000

This grant will support the Illinois Humanities Council as host organization for the 2012 National Humanities Council conference to be held in Chicago from November 15-18. The Council will use MacArthur support to demonstrate the importance of the humanities in Chicago, share the expertise of the Council and its partners through conference panels, and allow Council staff to participate in the conference by covering their registration fees. The Illinois Humanities Council is an educational organization dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities.

2009 (5 years)
$250,000

In support of general operations (over five years).

1996 (2 years)
$60,000

To support the Chicago Humanities Festival (over two years).

1995 (1 year)
$30,000

To support the Chicago Humanities Festival and for the writing residency of John Edgar Wideman.

1994 (1 year)
$25,000

To support the Chicago Humanities Festival.

1992 (1 year)
$150,000

To support the Chicago Humanities Festival (over three years) and for the presentation of "X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X" by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

1991 (1 year)
$25,000

To support the Chicago Humanities Festival.

1990 (1 year)
$25,000

For "Freedom's Expressions: A Celebration of Freedom in the Arts."

1987 (4 years 1 month)
$250,000

To support the statewide initiative "Inventing Illinois."

1984 (1 year)
$10,000

To support a statewide lecture series, "The Burden of Reform: School in American Society."