The Prairie Landscape

Community Grants - 2003 Archive

The Illinois Humanities Council funds non-profit organizations that are developing programs for Illinois audiences. These must be public humanities programs in Illinois that are shaped by and significantly involve humanities scholars and/or other community experts.

Because we believe the humanities should belong to everyone, we especially encourage applications from organizations that bring the humanities to new or historically neglected audiences or communities. These include but are not limited to residents of rural communities, men and women with little formal education, inner city or other underserved youth (in after school or weekend programs), people who are economically disadvantaged, or the elderly. We especially invite applications from organizations that serve these communities and strongly encourage other applicants to extend their proposed programs to include such audiences. We will consider supporting other projects on a case-by-case basis.

We make approximately 90 grants per year, ranging from $2,000 (mini grants) to $10,000 (major grants). To see examples of grants recently made by the IHC, please click on "Grant Descriptions" on this page.

The IHC conducts grant workshops at least three times a year throughout the state. Workshops are held at our offices in Chicago on the first Friday of June and December and on the first Friday in November in Springfield. We usually conduct a workshop once a year in Rockford. To speak with an IHC Program Officer about applying for IHC funds or attending a grant workshop, please call 312.422.5580 or e-mail ihc@prairie.org.