Illinois Humanities, the Illinois affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a nonprofit dedicated to activating the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities aimed at fostering reflection, sparking conversation, building community, and strengthening civic engagement. Focused on providing high-quality humanities experiences in Illinois, especially for marginalized communities such as communities of color, low-income individuals, rural areas, small arts and cultural organizations, and those impacted by mass incarceration.
The grant offered by Illinois Humanities supports projects that use the arts and humanities to encourage conversations about mass incarceration and explore community-based approaches to justice. This includes a broad range of applicants like humanities, arts, and cultural organizations, community-based organizations, social-service agencies, support-service providers for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals, and youth media groups. Priority is given to initiatives that are regional or statewide in scope, focus on communities host to prisons or jails, those significantly affected by incarceration, or those experiencing notable demographic changes due to the criminal legal system.