The Illinois Humanities Council funds nonprofit 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.
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.
| African-American Heritage in the Midwest | $2,500 |
| Aqui y Alla - Here and There: Santa Clara del Cobre | $4,000 |
| Arab American Playwrights Panel | $2,000 |
| Barry Public Historians | $10,000 |
| Beneath the Blindfold | $10,000 |
| Beyond Kristallnacht: Lessons for Today | $2,500 |
| Books Alive: Bringing Literature to Life for Young Children | $5,000 |
| Center for American Archeology Archeology Day 2008 | $2,000 |
| Central Illinois H2O: Quality and Quantity Panel Discussion | $2,000 |
| Central Illinois: Patchwork of People - Educational Series | $2,000 |
| Challenging History Through Literature | $10,000 |
| Champaign's County Lincoln and the Goose Pond Church | $3,550 |
| Chicago Maritime Festival and Festival Outreach Program | $2,500 |
| Choices | $7,600 |
| Civil Rights Institute | $10,000 |
| College-in-Prison Program, Education Justice Project | $2,000 |
| Creating Mexican American Identities: Multiple Voices, Shared Dreams | $10,000 |
| Dedication of Wild Bill Hickok Statue | $1,500 |
| Exploring Humanities through the Persian Culture | $10,000 |
| Free Write Jail Arts and Literacy Program | $8,264 |
| Harold Washington Commemorative Year Capstone Symposium “Harold Washington: Exploring a Legacy” | $2,000 |
| How a Voice Slams | $4,258 |
| Howard Alk Retrospective | $10,000 |
| Hyde Park Neighborhood Club Pilot Intergenerational Oral Histories Program | $2,000 |
| Intersections: A Literacy Conference for Young Writers | $10,000 |
| Introduction and Reformatting of Orientation Video | $2,000 |
| Leonardo Across the Curriculum | $1,000 |
| Lincoln's Illinois | $5,000 |
| Mixing It Up | $10,000 |
| Museum in the Streets: Images of Public Housing | $2,000 |
| Music Institute of Chicago January Series | $5,000 |
| Origins of Now - The Stories of the Chicago Nisei | $4,000 |
| Outreach for Daniel Burnham Film Project with Chicago Public Library | $2,000 |
| Peoria Reads 2009 | $2,500 |
| Poetry and Music by Latin American Women | $2,500 |
| Point of Entry: An Interactive Digital Mural Project | $2,500 |
| Publications for Lincoln-Douglas Jonesboro Debate Sesquicentennial | $2,000 |
| Quarterly Book Discussions | $2,000 |
| Reeltime Independent Film and Video Forum | $10,000 |
| Represent! Exploring Identity Through History and Culture | $2,500 |
| Representations: A Series on Culture, Politics and Aesthetics | $10,000 |
| Springfield Urban League Summer Freedom School | $10,000 |
| Stories to Tell | $5,000 |
| Summer Art Around the World Intensive | $2,000 |
| Technical Assistance Grant | $500 |
| Technical Assistance Grant | $500 |
| The 10th Annual Puerto Rican Cuatro Festival | $6,000 |
| The Bronzeville Cultural Festival | $2,500 |
| The Canterbury Tales | $4,500 |
| The Lord Is Not On Trial Here Today | $10,000 |
| Time Detectives | $10,000 |
| Tony & Janina's American Wedding | $10,000 |
| Towards and Oral History of the Civil Rights Struggle in Mexican Pilsen | $2,500 |
| Vet Art Project | $2,500 |
| Voices of Norwood Park | $2,000 |
| Women and Prison Project | $10,000 |
| Words at Play | $5,000 |
| Young Filmmakers | $2,000 |
| Youth Stand Up! | $10,000 |
