Next mini grants due April 15; next major grants due July 15.

CHICAGO –The Illinois Humanities Council Board of Directors has awarded a total of $17,600 to nine nonprofit organizations for development and production of public humanities projects. Funded programs include a discussion group for teens about graphic novels at the DeKalb Public Library called Heroes at Your Library; a Multi-Cultural Awareness Series for young children featuring Hawaiian history, arts, and culture at the Maywood Fine Arts Association; and an eight week course, Elderquest and the Cinema and Literature of Age: New Models for the New Old Age which will explore the older hero in today’s literature and film (Springfield). Community support for these projects totaled $39,591. A complete list of grants and the organizations that are sponsoring these programs is listed below:

• Chicago’s Unrest—The Sixties: Chicago Film Archives, NFP, Chicago ($2,500)
  
• Decoding the Venus: Chicago Dramatists, Chicago ($2,000)
  
• The Exponential Power of Art in Developing International Disability Culture: Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago ($2,000)
  
• Sunday Scholar Series and TimeLine “Backstory,” TimeLine Theatre Company, Chicago ($1,500)
  
• Heroes At Your Library: A Graphic Novel Discussion Group for Teens: DeKalb Public Library, DeKalb ($1,800)
  
• “Thinking About Religion“ Engaging the Community: The Religious Council of Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville ($2,000)
  
• South Suburban Archaelogical Society Lectures 2006: South Suburban Archaelogical Society, Homewood ($1,800)
  
• Multi-Cultural Awareness for Young Children: 2006 Hawaiian History, Arts, and Culture: Maywood Fine Arts Association, Maywood ($2,000)
  
• The Elderquest and the Cinema and Literature of Age: Academy of Lifelong Learning/Lincoln Land Community College Springfield ($2,000)
  

The Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) invites non-profit organizations to apply for its next cycle of mini grants of up to $2,000 by its April 15, 2006 deadline. The deadline for the next cycle of major grants (up to $10,000) is July 15, 2006. Any non-profit group, organization, or institution is eligible to apply for financial support from the Illinois Humanities Council for a public project in the humanities, including documentary films, local and community history projects, literary symposia, and oral history projects. Mini Grants are restricted to organizations with annual budgets under $1 million dollars or organizations applying for new or experimental programs. The IHC makes it a priority to fund projects developed by, for, or aimed at reaching new or historically neglected audiences.

Potential applicants may review and download grant applications and guidelines by visiting www.prairie.org and clicking on “Educational Programs and 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.

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. Through its programs and grants, the IHC promotes greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by all Illinoisans, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. Organized as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1973, the IHC is now a private nonprofit (501 [c] 3) organization that is funded by contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations; by the Illinois General Assembly; and by the NEH.

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