Press Release

ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL AWARDS MAJOR GRANTS

Next mini grants due January 15; next major grants due February 15

CHICAGO –The Illinois Humanities Council Board of Directors has awarded a total of $209,640 to 25 nonprofit organizations for development and production of public humanities projects.

Funded projects include a CD of poetry readings from The Poetry Center’s Annual Reading Series that will be distributed free of charge to Chicago schools participating in the Center’s “Hands on Stanzas” program; an exhibition and outreach program on the changing character and architectural significance of architecture in Chicago’s North Lawndale community organized by the Chicago Architecture Foundation; a bilingual community reading program in Rockford organized by the Rockford Public Library; and a documentary film on the early history and traditional culture of Illinois Indian tribes for which the state of Illinois is named produced by the non-profit Nipundikan organization in Mascoutah.

Community support for these projects totaled $1,107,622. A list of grants and the organizations that are sponsoring these programs are listed below:


  • Slippery Characters, JazzReach Inc., Brooklyn, NY, $9,990
  • Art and Artifact, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, $4,150
  • Learning from North Lawndale, Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago, $10,000
  • Record Row: The History of Chicago Soul, Chicago Blues Museum, Chicago, $10,000
  • Greater Access and Increased Knowledge, Columbia CollegeChicago, Chicago, $5,000
  • Free Frank and New Philadelphia, Free Frank New Philadelphia Foundation, Chicago, $4,000
  • Ta Rembetika, Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center, Chicago, $10,000
  • 100 Years of Breathing Life into the Community, American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago, Chicago, $10,000
  • Writing off the Charts, Neighborhood Writing Alliance, Chicago, $7,000
  • Tell the Story, Sixty-Sixty-Five Inc., Chicago, $5,000
  • Cultural Connections, The Field Museum, Chicago, $10,000
  • Write On: The Act of the Written Hand, The HistoryMakers, Chicago, $5,000
  • Poetry Center Audio Archive, The Poetry Center of Chicago, Chicago, $10,000
  • Caribbean Stories: The Art of Life, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, $10,000
  • Chicago Disability History Exhibition, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, $10,000
  • Chicago’s Labor Trail, Stage II, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, $10,000
  • Narrative and Place, Young Chicago Authors, Chicago, $10,000
  • Islam in Southeast Asia, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, 9,800
  • A Pilot Literature and Visual Arts Circle for Young Men, Literature for All for Us, Evanston, $10,000
  • Saturday Salon Series, Next Theatre Company, Evanston, $6,000
  • Early History of the Illinois Indians, Nipundikan, Mascoutah, $4,200
  • Waking the Sleeping Soul, Quad City Arts, Rock Island, $10,000
  • One Book, One Rockford, Rockford Public Library, Rockford, $10,000
  • 1913 Massacre, Center for Independent Documentary, Sharon, MA, $10,000
  • The Block Documents, Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield, $8,500

January 15 is the next IHC deadline for mini grants proposals and major grant proposals are due February 15. Potential applicants may review and download grant applications and guidelines by visiting www.prairie.org/grants. Grant information may also be requested by calling 312.422.5580 or by sending an email to ihc@prairie.org. IHC program officers are available for consultation at this number as well, and new applicants are encouraged to seek consultation.

For further information about the IHC or the grants program, please contact us at 312.422.5580 or visit our website at www.prairie.org/grants.

The Illinois Humanities Council is a nonprofit educational organization [501 (c) 3] dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Organized in 1973 as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the IHC creates programs and funds organizations that promote greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities. The IHC is supported by state, federal, and private funds.

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