Artist Fellowship Program

The Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) is now accepting applications for the 2023 Artists Fellowship Program. The program's intent is to enrich and strengthen the state of Illinois by supporting accomplished Illinois artists who are the foundation of Illinois' creative environment. The Artist Fellowship Program recognizes exceptional artists who have created a substantial body of work throughout their career by providing awards to support continued artistic growth.

The IACA will provide a limited number of $15,000 awards across the following discipline categories: Literature (Poetry, Prose, Scriptworks) Media Arts, Music (Compositional Music, Improvisational Music) and 
Performance-Based Arts (Choreography, New Performance Forms)

​A limited number of $1,500 Finalist Awards will also be given.

In the next application cycle (FY24), the discipline categories of Crafts, Digital Arts, Ethnic & Folk Arts, New Art Forms and Visual Based Arts will be reviewed.

To be considered, applicants must:

• Be current legal residents of the state of Illinois and have been for the twelve months prior to the application deadline
• Have created a substantial, independent body of work over at least a five year professional arts career
• Have made a recognized contribution to their discipline through public presentation of their work
• Demonstrate a high-aesthetic level of artistic ability with a strong consistency of expression throughout their professional arts career
• Provide evidence of continued commitment to serious and exceptional aesthetic investigation in his or her chosen medium

This is not a project-specific grant. The Artist Fellowship Program is meant for artists whose work is of exceptional artistic merit and who are at a career stage beyond emerging.

Applying artists must upload or link to work samples. Work samples submitted via a link (ex. YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) must be public and without password protection.

Deadline: November 7, 2022, 11:59 pm. 

New Online Platform

In FY22 we transferred to a new online system that is different than the SlideRoom system used in previous years. If you are a first time applicant to IACA you must create your applicant account within Salesforce to complete the application. This can be found on the "Applicant Information" tab in the system and then clicking the "New" button.

To help you navigate the new system there is a recorded webinar on the IACA Workshops and Webinars page.

We also have opportunities for you to connect with IACA staff for questions on the program or the new platform. A drop-in session for questions on the program or online platform, pre-registration is not available. To join click on the link at the meeting time

• Friday, October 28, 2022 at 1:00pm

A Recorded Webinar is also now available to Artist Fellowship applicants.

To access the Fellowship Program Guidelines, follow the link: 
https://arts.illinois.gov/sites/default/files/content/program-forms/FY23_AFA.pdf

To access the Fellowship Program Application, follow the link:
https://arts-illinois.force.com

For specific information on this program contact:

Performance-Based Arts:
Jackie Banks-Mahlum
Program Director
Phone: +1 (312) 814-4990
Email: Jackie.Banks-Mahlum@illinois.gov

Literature and Media Arts:
Susan Dickson
Program Director      
Phone: +1 (312) 814-6740
Email: Susan.Dickson@illinois.gov

Music:
George Tarasuk
Program Director
Phone: +1 (312) 814-3916
Email: George.Tarasuk@illinois.gov