Chicago, IL
Engaged Arts and Craftivisms
От Sabaha Lee Round November 2024The Scarecrow
От Anthony Michael Stokes November 2024Improvised Music for Pipe Organ in Chicago
От Jack Langdon October 2024Raising the Bar for Women's Cycling in Chicago
От 606 Racing September 2024Little Village Arts Fest 2024
От Laura Nunez August 2024Ceasefire Choir Convening in Chicago
От Jennifer Kovar July 2024Disability Dance & Ensemble Thinking Workshop
От Shireen Hamza June 2024Guardians of the Earth and Sky
От Irene Hsiao May 2024Euripides' Medea by Bump in the Night Theatre
От Garrett McCann May 2024The Big Bata Weekend
От Cuán McCann April 2024The Black & Brown Femme Film Festival
От Vici Howard March 2024Martial Arts & Self Defense for Refugee Kids
От Said Hatim February 2024Saturday Morning
От Jeffrey Nils Gardner January 2024Soul Jack Digital Lab
От Mr. Tony Montes December 2023Chicago Circle Singing
От Davin Youngs November 2023Performances for hospice and bed bound older adult
От Lauren Latessa October 2023Chicago Baking Buddies
От Emaan Mohsin October 2023Wolves
От Chris X September 2023Alzheimer's/Dementia Ofrenda
От Amelia Garza September 2023Bike Carrier Trailer for Orchard Village Bike Club
От Julia Morrow August 2023Liberation Library
От Bettina Johnson August 2023LGBTQ/Seniors Movie And Dinner Events
От Eurydice Moore June 2023Like A Rose Conference
От Chandria Taylor May 2023Picnic with the Pollinators
От Angela Courtney April 2023Clear the Chicago River Bank of Invasives!
От Kerrie Rovito March 2023Ladies of Song Button-o-matic
От Christy Bennett February 2023Women Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe
От Ellie Levine February 2023Satire at the End of the World
От Christine Wenc January 2023FLOW Box
От Kisha Barrett January 2023Kindness Kiosk
От Michelle Kliman + Michael Greene December 2022The Angels of Menachap
От Logan Mulch December 2022Seeds of Hope garden
От Laura Thiessen November 2022Let's Carve Stone
От Jyl Bonaguro October 2022West Side Equestrian Trick Riding Club
От Beatrice Scescke September 2022South/West Side Community Jams
От Bril Barrett August 2022Nita’s Love Train
От Juanita Tennyson July 2022Reentry Program for women at Cook County Jail
От Jenna Pasanen July 2022Public Classes in the Ancient Art of Popotillo
От Breanne "Cari" Carlson June 2022Souper Heroes Feeds Chicago
От Lauren Tighe (on behalf of Kenneth Purnell) May 2022South Side Book Fair
От Kevin Lilly May 2022Readers' Bridge
От Chris Houchens April 2022Urban Native Transit Project
От Becky DeGraffenried, Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative April 2022Community Cook-Outs 2022
От Diego Garcia March 2022Real world skills in the surreal world.
От Jeremy Bower March 2022Our Faces Our Voices
От ben salus February 2022Mutual Aid Garden and Free Seed Library
От Jen Delos Reyes February 2022Sounds of Solidarity
От Amara Martin January 2022The Go Hub: A Community Mobility Center
От Olatunji Oboi Reed January 2022Shoreline
От JeeYeun Lee December 2021compileHer Hackathon
От Olivia Jerdee December 2021Babies and Barbershops
От Vikki Collier November 2021Humboldt Park Cinema Club
От Lindsay Vallance November 2021KEEN Winter Care Packages
От Laura Fillenwarth October 2021AbundantChi
От Jorden Smith October 2021Nightingale-in-Residence
От Emily Eddy September 2021Gardening Club for Individuals With Disabilities
От Dana DeBofsky September 2021Youth Art Fest
От Dianna C Long August 2021Outdoor Micro Gallery for Terrain
От Elaine Luther August 2021EveryMom Chicago Newborn Kits
От Jamie Taratoot August 2021M.E.A.N. Girls Empowerment Wellness Picnic
От Falon Lawson July 2021Sensory Kits for Students at Esperanza School
От Madeleine Starr July 2021Mofindu's Urban Village
От Markeya Howard July 2021Summer Gardening /Recreation Youth Project
От Charles Wilson June 2021Heat Lightning
От MaryAnn McGovern June 2021Williamson Street Mural
От Conner Wild June 2021Anne's Haven - Women in the Workforce
От Allegra Bradley June 2021OnWord Skate Co. Building a Better Chicago
От Lid Madrid / OnWord Skate Collective May 2021Mural Dances
От Rachel Damon May 2021Sneaker Design Challenge
От Ben Salus May 2021Covid Self-Care Kits in Domestic Violence Shelters
От Pearl O. Ugwu-Dike May 2021Casitas para Pajaritos
От Theodora Z Salazar April 2021Window Plays
От Nikki Bauer April 2021Storytelling for Children with Visual Impairments
От Tekki Lomnicki April 2021Asphalt to Awesome: A Monarch Butterfly Garden
От Anna Wassenaar March 2021Field Trips to the Circus
От CircEsteem March 2021Feed The Community
От Niquenya Collins March 2021Real Freedom Projects
От Brett Swinney March 2021Into the Frontier
От Rex Cassidy and Alex Cassidy February 2021The Gage Park Mural Project
От Mario Mena February 2021Stone Temple Community Garden - Fencing in Peace
От Tony Abruscato February 2021A Place to Demand Justice
От Maxwell Emcays January 2021Put Your Hands Together-Emergency Food Assistance
От Jayne Siou January 2021Marvelous Machines
От Wynter Rose January 2021Project 1033: A proposal to empower Chicagoans
От Institute for Transparent Policing December 2020Turning the Page
От Elizabeth Ferry December 2020Austin Gallery
От Human Scale December 2020Awesome Tenners
От Chicago Awesome Foundation December 2020The Connection Community Garden
От Margaret Morris November 2020GetMePPEChicago
От Tricia Pendergrast November 2020CPR for the Deaf and Disabled
От Zaineb Al-Abdulla October 2020Word Choice Cafe
От Venita Williams September 2020Bike Lane Uprising
От Christina Whitehouse August 2020BIPOC Terp Fund Chi
От Chelsea Bundy August 2020Jumping Juniors Double Dutch
От Paulette Jones July 2020Rogers Park Community Response Team (RPCRT)
От Heidi Massey July 2020Community Language Classes
От Angela Lin June 2020COVID-19 Emergency Response Programming
От Colin Higgins June 2020You Got The Juice (COVID-19 Emergency Assistance)
От Keevan Dantzler May 2020Online Scholastic Chess Tournaments
От Lee Lazar May 2020The Arts for Illinois Relief Fund
От EVA SILVERMAN April 2020Craft Circle to Empower Our Youth
От Lariel Joy March 2020Culture Coach Stage Comes to Your Neighborhood
От Susan Fox February 2020The Elders of South Side Music Legacies
От Brandon Payton-Carrillo January 2020Wasted - A Youth Production about Pollution
От Free Street Theater December 2019Manga Arts Studio
От Eric Zaragoza December 2019Douglass 18
От Space p11 November 2019Reflections on Fire: Abandoning Old Ideas
От Frank Maugeri November 2019Chicago Artists Exhibit
От Ivonne Cruz October 2019The Chicago Tool Library
От Tessa Vierk September 2019Flu Shots & Drink Shots -- Immunology @ a Bar!
От Monica Metzler August 2019Helping Rebuilding Exchange Build for the Future
От Julian Pastin July 2019Community-Based Scent Education
От Jas Brooks June 2019TRQPiTECA Queer Pride Chicago 2019 - Sound System
От Natalie Murillo May 2019AMFM Presents: Feast "A Festival in Three Courses"
От Ciera Mckissick May 2019The Chicago Mobile Makerspace
От Maya Bird-Murphy April 2019Throwing a Citywide Wedding Ball for LGBT Muslims
От Mahdia Lynn March 2019Energy Audits Evanston
От Aaron Boxerman February 2019Crafternoons with LGBTQIA Elders
От Mikey Anderson January 2019KEENSports
От KEEN Chicago December 2018Know Your Rights Education
От Diana Vargas November 2018Black Dog Metal Arts
От Jamie Caitlin Lovell October 2018Safety Planning Clinic for Undocumented Families
От Rebekah Rashidfarokhi September 2018Refugee High
От Elly Fishman August 2018An Arm and a Leg:Podcast re: Cost of Health Care
От Dan Weissmann July 2018Ghostskate 2018 Season & Chicago Expansion
От Stuart Anderson June 2018Sewing Literacy 101
От Amy Malysa May 2018Glass Case Mini Art Gallery at The WasteShed
От Eleanor Ray April 2018World's Fair 2018
От Sasha Tycko March 2018Afrofuturist mural in Englewood!
От Ryan Wilson February 2018Where is Washington Heights?
От Hana L Anderson January 2018Scream Class
От GOLDGRRL December 2017Awesome Weekend
От Dave Stanford December 2017Refugee Education & Adventure CHallenge (REACH)
От Shana Wills November 2017The East Side Project
От Mary Kate Witry October 2017SHE CAST : a for-youth by-youth podcast
От Kayla Lane Freeman September 2017Back of the Yards - Bread truck mobile art exhibit
От Megan E. Doherty August 2017TECHNE: Electronic Music Powered by Girls Chicago
От Jessie Marino July 2017BarberQue
От Megan Hinchy June 2017OPEN STUDIO: A CELEBRATION OF CHICAGO'S DRAG SCENE
От Molly Hewitt June 2017Prison Interview Series
От Michael Fischer April 2017YogaCare: Training Yoga Teachers on the South Side
От YogaCare March 2017Operation Evergreen: Guitars Over Guns Program
От Andrew DeMuro February 2017Empowering Teen Authors & Teen Publishers
От Jennifer Steele January 2017All-Latino re-imagining of WAITING FOR GODOT
От Tympanic Theatre Company December 2016A Dance of Welcome
От Shawn Lent November 2016Bridging the Gap
От Quabeeny Daniels October 2016Floating Museum
От Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford September 2016Project Onward Artist Book
От Rebecca Lyn Beaird August 2016Water for a Thirsty Therapeutic Garden
От Elizabeth Lindau July 2016Sandcastle Maker
От Tim Parsons June 2016Operation Endangered Species
От Catherine Zdunek May 2016Free stamps and envelopes on tax day
От Roy Trakovski April 2016Walk All Night - A Drum Beat Journey
От Elilta Tewelde March 2016Seat buttons
От Annie Morse February 20164Us Girls Club Self-Image Zine Project
От Annette kelly January 2016The Music Box
От Aquil Charlton December 2015Thresholds: Illusions for the Senses & the Mind
От Jeanette Andrews December 2015Drums for the Deaf
От Tiana Pyer-Pereira September 2015Pop-Up Puppet Truck
От Donny Gettinger August 2015Open Source Furniture: Enzo Mari Design Workshop
От Chicago Design Museum July 2015Literature Emitting Diodes
От Carley Gomez June 2015"I Looked Up To The Screen Above"
От Simon Pyle May 2015Making Hermosa hermosa!
От Colin Bird April 2015The Scarlet "S" Project
От Catherine Paula Muskett March 2015Red Line Comfort Stations
От Rhoda Rosen and Billy McGuinness February 2015StudentsXpress
От Rachel Switall February 2015The Kung-Fu Cage
От Andy North December 2014The Beauty Pack
От Gena Palmieri November 2014Cage and Garden
От Katherine Miles August 2014Beach Party at the End of the World
От Katie Mazzini July 2014Memoir Writing Workshops for Seniors
От Hazel A. Domangue June 2014Community Portraits: North & South Lawndale
От William Estrada May 2014Cook County Sheriff Beekeeping Initiative
От Kathryn Dunne February 2014Multi-generational Community Engagement Screening
От La Toia Janine Brown February 2014Community Nursing Home Garden
От Barbara Dykes December 2013Chicago Recipe Box
От Chelsea Middendorf on behalf of Potluck: Chicago December 2013Hook & Eye
От Laboratory Dancers October 2013Home is where the heart is...
От Chang October 2013Love Life Balloons (Johnny's Red Balloon Project)
От Johnny Michael August 2013World's Largest Cardboard Box Castle
От Blake Grigsby May 2013Clean Graffiti
От Elizabeth Ortiz & Gilberto Sandoval April 2013Dunes Learning Center Food Waste Education
От Alexandra Schindler March 2013Garfield Park Positive Improvements
От Matt Litwin January 2013It's A New Day at CVCA
От Charity White December 2012Wake Up! Waltz
От Josie Elizabeth Davis November 2012Free Art for the Residents of Englewood
От Timothy Campbell October 2012Jurassic Geriatrics
От David Daniels September 2012Milwaukee Avenue Mini Golf Course
От Katherine Darnstadt August 2012The Great Fire: A Traveling Truck Show
От Kayce Bayer July 2012Layin' Down Tracks
От Dyan Flores June 2012Chic-A-Go-Go
От Jake Austen May 2012Learnapalooza Chicago
От Maggie Schutz April 2012Free art hunts
От Patrick skoff March 2012Silent Theater Seeks Voice
От Lacy Campbell February 2012Da Favela to the Guetto: Pinhole Photography
От Paco Barba December 2011Poetry + QR Codes
От Felix Jung November 2011City of Big Shovels
От Ben Helphand October 2011Open Source Scanning Tunneling Microscope
От Sacha De'Angeli October 2011Possibility Potlucks & "What if" Stores
От Melanie Kahl September 2011Neighborhood Little Free Library
От Rick Brooks July 2011За Нас
The Chicago chapter of the Awesome Foundation has been funding awesomeness in Chicagoland since the summer of 2011. We've funded everything from little free libraries and puppet shows to electron microscopes and a temporary mini golf course on Milwaukee Avenue with no-strings-attached $1,000 grants. See a map of the projects we have funded over the years. We are proudly and excitedly connected to the wider Awesome Foundation network.
What's your awesome idea? Do you have an awesome idea that would make your Chicagoland-based community awesome? Of course you do. Apply today for a $1,000 no-strings-attached grant to make your awesome idea a reality. Our short grant application is available here. The trustees review period is from the 15th to the 14th overlapping months. We evaluate each month’s applications on the fourth Tuesday of the following month (2025 expected dates: 28th January, 25th February, 25th March, 22nd April, 27th May, 24th June, 22nd July, 26th August, 23rd September, 28th October, 25th November, 23rd December) If you are unsure if your idea matches the types of project we fund, please review our past award winners listed above.
Join us! If you'd like to play a direct role in deciding what we fund next, become a trustee! Our group is comprised of community members who commit to the following:
- Financial Contribution: Commit $100 per month in the interest of Awesome in Chicago for at least 6 months. This contribution goes towards the $1,000 award we grant each month. Reach out if this is a barrier to joining
- Participation: Play an active role in accepting and reviewing applications, and in deciding with the other trustees by consensus who will receive the grant.
- New Projects: With no specific leadership roles, every trustee is a leader in their own right. We like trustees to come up with new project ideas for the chapter to do, and help organize the group into getting it done.
Trustees serve until they resign. If you're interested in joining us as a trustee, we invite you to complete our rolling application, and we'll try to get back to you shortly.
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