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Community Grants Program

The Illinois Humanities Council funds non-profit organizations that develop public humanities programs for Illinois audiences that are shaped by and significantly involve humanities scholars and/or other community experts and that reach historically underserved audiences.

Upcoming Community Grant Application Workshops:    

The IHC's community grants program accepts proposals from nonprofit organizations that have a story to tell about Illinois or who have a way to use the humanities to enrich community life. Mini grants are typically up to $2,000 and major grants are typically up to $10,000.

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 this year by the IHC, look at the table of Grant Recipients at the bottom of this page. You may view examples of grants made in the past by clicking on previous years in in the right sidebar.

The IHC conducts grant workshops several times a year throughout the state. Workshops are held at our offices in Chicago on the first Friday of June and December and in the fall and spring in central, eastern, western and southern Illinois communities. 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.


Grant Recipients
TitleGrantee OrganizationAward
African-American Heritage in the MidwestNew Philadelphia Association$2,500
Aqui y Alla - Here and There: Santa Clara del CobreCuentos Foundation$4,000
Arab American Playwrights PanelNext Theatre Company$2,000
Barry Public HistoriansBarry Public Library$10,000
Beneath the BlindfoldMedia Process Educational Films$10,000
Beyond Kristallnacht: Lessons for TodayJewish Federation of the Quad Cities$2,500
Books Alive: Bringing Literature to Life for Young ChildrenMaywood Fine Arts Association$5,000
Center for American Archeology Archeology Day 2008Center For American Archeology (CAA)$2,000
Central Illinois H2O: Quality and Quantity Panel DiscussionDecatur Area Arts Council$2,000
Challenging History Through LiteratureQuad City Arts, Inc$10,000
Champaign's County Lincoln and the Goose Pond ChurchEarly American Museum$3,550
Chicago Maritime Festival and Festival Outreach ProgramCommon Times$2,500
ChoicesNeighborhood Writing Alliance$7,600
Civil Rights InstituteChicago Freedom School$10,000
College-in-Prison Program, Education Justice ProjectUniversity of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign$2,000
Creating Mexican American Identities: Multiple Voices, Shared DreamsWest Chicago City Museum$10,000
Dedication of Wild Bill Hickok StatueMendota Museum & Historical Society$1,500
Exploring Humanities through the Persian CultureThe Epic Players of Chicago & Iran House of Greater Chicago$10,000
Free Write Jail Arts and Literacy ProgramChicago Lights$8,264
Harold Washington Commemorative Year Capstone Symposium “Harold Washington: Exploring a Legacy”Heartland Alliance$2,000
How a Voice SlamsAmerica SCORES Chicago$4,258
Howard Alk RetrospectiveChicago Film Archives, NFP$10,000
Intersections: A Literacy Conference for Young WritersYoung Chicago Authors (YCA)$10,000
Introduction and Reformatting of Orientation VideoIllinois Amish Interpretive Center$2,000
Lincoln's IllinoisIllinois State Museum Society$5,000
Mixing It UpCommunity Television Network$10,000
Museum in the Streets: Images of Public HousingNational Public Housing Museum$2,000
Music Institute of Chicago January SeriesMusic Institute of Chicago$5,000
Origins of Now - The Stories of the Chicago NiseiThe Japanese American Service Committee (JASC)$4,000
Poetry and Music by Latin American WomenCUBE, Contemporary Music Ensemble$2,500
Point of Entry: An Interactive Digital Mural ProjectPros Arts Studio$2,500
Publications for Lincoln-Douglas Jonesboro Debate SesquicentennialP.A.S.T./Lincoln-Douglas Committee$2,000
Quarterly Book DiscussionsThe Literary Exchange$2,000
Reeltime Independent Film and Video ForumEvanston Public Library$10,000
Represent! Exploring Identity Through History and CultureStreet Level Youth Media$2,500
Representations: A Series on Culture, Politics and AestheticsExperimental Station$10,000
Springfield Urban League Summer Freedomn SchoolSpringfield Urban League$10,000
Stories to TellCenter for Independent Documentary$5,000
Summer Art Around the World IntensiveNaperville Cultural Center$2,000
Technical Assistance GrantPiatt County Museum$500
Technical Assistance GrantIllinois Heritage Association$500
The 10th Annual Puerto Rican Cuatro FestivalThe Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA)$6,000
The Bronzeville Cultural FestivalThird World Press$2,500
The Canterbury TalesEastern Illinois University$4,500
The Lord Is Not On Trial Here TodayCollege of Media$10,000
Time DetectivesCenter For American Archeology (CAA)$10,000
Tony & Janina's American WeddingKartemquin Films$10,000
Towards and Oral History of the Civil Rights Struggle in Mexican PilsenCasa Aztlan$2,500
Women and Prison ProjectBeyondmedia Education$10,000
Words at PlayChicago Humanities Festival$5,000
Young FilmmakersEvergreen Park Public Library$2,000
Youth Stand Up!Free Street Programs, Inc.$10,000