Chicago Artists Coalition Announces Awardees for SPARK Grant, Maker Grant, and CONEY Family Fund Award 

• $61,000 in Unrestricted Funds Going to 28 Artists in 2020-2021 Cycle
• Urgently Needed Funds Arrive at Crucial Time for a Diverse Group of Emerging Artists

CHICAGO, IL. April 27, 2020 — Chicago Artists Coalition (CAC) today unveiled a total of 28 awardees who will receive unrestricted funds during the 2020-2021 cycle, including 25 awardees of the SPARK Grant program, two recipients of the MAKER Grant and one recipient of the Coney Family Fund Award. With the generous support of the Joyce Foundation and an anonymous donor, the SPARK Grant this year expanded to 25 unrestricted awards of $2,000 each. Celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, CAC has a strong history of supporting emerging Chicago-based visual artists through unrestricted grant funds, and now administers a total of $61,000 in unrestricted grants to artists, more than five times the amount administered by the organization only two years ago.

“At this time more than ever, we are committed to awarding unrestricted funds directly to artists,” said CAC Executive Director Caroline Older. “Artists are foundational to the arts ecosystem of our city, and direct financial support is only one of the myriad ways in which CAC offers support and opportunities to Chicago’s community of emerging artists.”

Congratulations to our Grant Recipients!

SPARK GRANTS 2020 - $2,000 (ea)

Juan Arango Palacios, Yesenia Bello, Ireashia Bennett, Peregrine Bermas, Ladipo Famodu, Carlos Flores, Lional Freeman, Stephanie Graham, Juarez Hawkins, Malika Jackson, Dominique James, A.J. McClenon, Juan Molina Hernández, Allen Moore, Gabriel Moreno, Eliza Myrie, Zachary Nicol, Jose Santiago Perez, Aida Ramirez, David Richards, Roderick Sawyer, Jennifer Senecal, Monica Trinidad, Vicente Ugartechea and Marvin Young. 

CONEY FAMILY FUND AWARD 2020 - $5,000

• Brittney Leeanne Williams

MAKER GRANTS 2020 - $3,000 (ea)

• Selva Aparicio
• Silvia González

Thanks to our Jurors!

SPARK Grants: Sampada Aranke, Gloria Talamantes + Derrick Woods-Morrow

CONEY Family Fund:La Keisha Leek + Pascale Ife Williams

MAKER Grants:William Fox + Stephanie Smith

And Thanks to our Sponsors!

The Joyce Foundation

Les and Chanel Coney

OtherPeoplesPixels

For more information about the grants and recipients, click here.