Chicago, IL
A Place to Demand Justice
By Maxwell Emcays January 2021
Put Your Hands Together-Emergency Food Assistance
By Jayne Siou January 2021
Marvelous Machines
By Wynter Rose January 2021
Project 1033: A proposal to empower Chicagoans
By Jacob Verrey December 2020
Turning the Page
By Elizabeth Ferry December 2020
Austin Gallery
By Human Scale December 2020Awesome Tenners
By Chicago Awesome Foundation December 2020
The Connection Community Garden
By Margaret Morris November 2020GetMePPEChicago
By Tricia Pendergrast November 2020
CPR for the Deaf and Disabled
By Zaineb Al-Abdulla October 2020
Word Choice Cafe
By Venita Williams September 2020
BIPOC Terp Fund Chi
By Chelsea Bundy August 2020
Bike Lane Uprising
By Christina Whitehouse August 2020
Jumping Juniors Double Dutch
By Paulette Jones July 2020
Rogers Park Community Response Team (RPCRT)
By Heidi Massey July 2020
COVID-19 Emergency Response Programming
By Colin Higgins June 2020
Community Language Classes
By Angela Lin June 2020
Online Scholastic Chess Tournaments
By Lee Lazar May 2020
You Got The Juice (COVID-19 Emergency Assistance)
By Keevan Dantzler May 2020
The Arts for Illinois Relief Fund
By EVA SILVERMAN April 2020
Craft Circle to Empower Our Youth
By Lariel Joy March 2020
Culture Coach Stage Comes to Your Neighborhood
By Susan Fox February 2020
The Elders of South Side Music Legacies
By Brandon Payton-Carrillo January 2020
Wasted - A Youth Production about Pollution
By Free Street Theater December 2019
Manga Arts Studio
By Eric Zaragoza December 2019
Douglass 18
By Space p11 November 2019
Reflections on Fire: Abandoning Old Ideas
By Frank Maugeri November 2019
Chicago Artists Exhibit
By Ivonne Cruz October 2019
The Chicago Tool Library
By Tessa Vierk September 2019
Flu Shots & Drink Shots -- Immunology @ a Bar!
By Monica Metzler August 2019
Helping Rebuilding Exchange Build for the Future
By Julian Pastin July 2019
Community-Based Scent Education
By Jas Brooks June 2019
TRQPiTECA Queer Pride Chicago 2019 - Sound System
By Natalie Murillo May 2019
AMFM Presents: Feast "A Festival in Three Courses"
By Ciera Mckissick May 2019
The Chicago Mobile Makerspace
By Maya Bird-Murphy April 2019
Throwing a Citywide Wedding Ball for LGBT Muslims
By Mahdia Lynn March 2019
Energy Audits Evanston
By Aaron Boxerman February 2019
Crafternoons with LGBTQIA Elders
By Mikey Anderson January 2019
KEENSports
By KEEN Chicago December 2018
Know Your Rights Education
By Diana Vargas November 2018
Black Dog Metal Arts
By Jamie Caitlin Lovell October 2018
Safety Planning Clinic for Undocumented Families
By Rebekah Rashidfarokhi September 2018
Refugee High
By Elly Fishman August 2018
An Arm and a Leg:Podcast re: Cost of Health Care
By Dan Weissmann July 2018
Ghostskate 2018 Season & Chicago Expansion
By Stuart Anderson June 2018
Sewing Literacy 101
By Amy Malysa May 2018
Glass Case Mini Art Gallery at The WasteShed
By Eleanor Ray April 2018
World's Fair 2018
By Sasha Tycko March 2018
Afrofuturist mural in Englewood!
By Ryan Wilson February 2018
Where is Washington Heights?
By Hana L Anderson January 2018
Scream Class
By GOLDGRRL December 2017
Awesome Weekend
By Dave Stanford December 2017
Refugee Education & Adventure CHallenge (REACH)
By Shana Wills November 2017The East Side Project
By Mary Kate Witry October 2017SHE CAST : a for-youth by-youth podcast
By Kayla Lane Freeman September 2017
Back of the Yards - Bread truck mobile art exhibit
By Megan E. Doherty August 2017
TECHNE: Electronic Music Powered by Girls Chicago
By Jessie Marino July 2017
BarberQue
By Megan Hinchy June 2017
OPEN STUDIO: A CELEBRATION OF CHICAGO'S DRAG SCENE
By Molly Hewitt June 2017
Prison Interview Series
By Michael Fischer April 2017
YogaCare: Training Yoga Teachers on the South Side
By YogaCare March 2017
Operation Evergreen: Guitars Over Guns Program
By Andrew DeMuro February 2017Empowering Teen Authors & Teen Publishers
By Jennifer Steele January 2017
All-Latino re-imagining of WAITING FOR GODOT
By Tympanic Theatre Company December 2016
A Dance of Welcome
By Shawn Lent November 2016Bridging the Gap
By Quabeeny Daniels October 2016
Floating Museum
By Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford September 2016
Project Onward Artist Book
By Rebecca Lyn Beaird August 2016
Water for a Thirsty Therapeutic Garden
By Elizabeth Lindau July 2016
Sandcastle Maker
By Tim Parsons June 2016
Operation Endangered Species
By Catherine Zdunek May 2016
Free stamps and envelopes on tax day
By Roy Trakovski April 2016
Walk All Night - A Drum Beat Journey
By Elilta Tewelde March 2016
Seat buttons
By Annie Morse February 2016
4Us Girls Club Self-Image Zine Project
By Annette kelly January 2016
The Music Box
By Aquil Charlton December 2015
Thresholds: Illusions for the Senses & the Mind
By Jeanette Andrews December 2015
Drums for the Deaf
By Tiana Pyer-Pereira September 2015
Pop-Up Puppet Truck
By Donny Gettinger August 2015
Open Source Furniture: Enzo Mari Design Workshop
By Chicago Design Museum July 2015
Literature Emitting Diodes
By Carley Gomez June 2015
"I Looked Up To The Screen Above"
By Simon Pyle May 2015
Making Hermosa hermosa!
By Colin Bird April 2015
The Scarlet "S" Project
By Catherine Paula Muskett March 2015
Red Line Comfort Stations
By Rhoda Rosen and Billy McGuinness February 2015
StudentsXpress
By Rachel Switall February 2015
The Kung-Fu Cage
By Andy North December 2014
The Beauty Pack
By Gena Palmieri November 2014
Cage and Garden
By Katherine Miles August 2014Beach Party at the End of the World
By Katie Mazzini July 2014
Memoir Writing Workshops for Seniors
By Hazel A. Domangue June 2014
Community Portraits: North & South Lawndale
By William Estrada May 2014
Cook County Sheriff Beekeeping Initiative
By Kathryn Dunne February 2014
Multi-generational Community Engagement Screening
By La Toia Janine Brown February 2014
Community Nursing Home Garden
By Barbara Dykes December 2013
Chicago Recipe Box
By Chelsea Middendorf on behalf of Potluck: Chicago December 2013
Hook & Eye
By Laboratory Dancers October 2013
Home is where the heart is...
By Chang October 2013
Love Life Balloons (Johnny's Red Balloon Project)
By Johnny Michael August 2013
World's Largest Cardboard Box Castle
By Blake Grigsby May 2013
Clean Graffiti
By Elizabeth Ortiz & Gilberto Sandoval April 2013
Dunes Learning Center Food Waste Education
By Alexandra Schindler March 2013
Garfield Park Positive Improvements
By Matt Litwin January 2013
It's A New Day at CVCA
By Charity White December 2012
Wake Up! Waltz
By Josie Elizabeth Davis November 2012
Free Art for the Residents of Englewood
By Timothy Campbell October 2012
Jurassic Geriatrics
By David Daniels September 2012
Milwaukee Avenue Mini Golf Course
By Katherine Darnstadt August 2012
The Great Fire: A Traveling Truck Show
By Kayce Bayer July 2012
Layin' Down Tracks
By Dyan Flores June 2012
Chic-A-Go-Go
By Jake Austen May 2012
Learnapalooza Chicago
By Maggie Schutz April 2012
Free art hunts
By Patrick skoff March 2012
Silent Theater Seeks Voice
By Lacy Campbell February 2012
Da Favela to the Guetto: Pinhole Photography
By Paco Barba December 2011
Poetry + QR Codes
By Felix Jung November 2011
City of Big Shovels
By Ben Helphand October 2011
Open Source Scanning Tunneling Microscope
By Sacha De'Angeli October 2011
Possibility Potlucks & "What if" Stores
By Melanie Kahl September 2011
Neighborhood Little Free Library
By Rick Brooks July 2011
О нас
The Chicago chapter has been funding awesomeness in the Windy City 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. See a map of the projects we have funded over the years.
What's your awesome idea? Apply today for a $1,000 no-strings-attached grant. Our short grant application is available here. We generally review applications on the third Tuesday of every month, and respond to applicants anywhere from 2-6 weeks after receiving the submission.
The Awesome Foundation Chicago Chapter will be awarding 10 mini-grants of $1,000 in memory of Mark Rogovin, noted Chicago muralist, who served as an apprentice to David Alfaro Siqueiros on the March of Humanity in Mexico. He was the founder of the Public Art Workshop, and the Peace Museum, and was known for fostering public art and mentoring young artists throughout his lifetime. These grants will be awarded through the Awesome Foundation’s regular monthly review process (please indicate that you are interested in this award). Projects must feature a public art component and take place in the Chicago metro area. Projects that include mentoring young artists, or are applications from young artists just establishing their careers are of special interest. Awards will be selected as they merit (may not be given out once a month) until the funds are exhausted.
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 10+ Trustees who promise to fulfill three duties:
- Financial Contribution: Commit $100 per month in the interest of Awesome for at least 6 months. This contribution goes towards the $1,000 award we grant each month.
- 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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