Opportunities for Educators

Opens: September 25, 2024
Deadline: November 20, 2024

The Illinois Arts Council’s (IAC) Creative Accelerator Fund (CAF) provides crucial support to artists with a goal of strengthening the creative workforce that composes a significant portion of Illinois’ economic activity.

Opens: TBD
Deadline: TBD

Grant Range: up to $40,000 for planning, $100,000 (Y1), $75,000 (Y2), and $50,000 (Y3)

The Arts & Foreign Language (AFL) Grant is to support arts and foreign language education in schools, with an emphasis on ensuring that these areas become part of the school’s core curriculum. Funding is available for each area for up to four years, with one year of planning and three years of implementation.

Opens: July 10, 2024
Deadline: Closed

Creative Catalyst Grant offers support to Illinois artists and non-profit organizations for arts-related projects, programming, events, and/or professional development.

Opens: September 16, 2024
Closes: January 17, 2025

Illinois Statewide POL Contest: March 17, 2025

A partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and the state arts agencies, Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. 

The ArtsTour Roster is a resource created in collaboration between the Illinois Presenters Network and the Illinois Arts Council.  This directory lists Illinois performing artists, companies, and ensembles that tour the state.The Artstour Roster is used by Illinois presenters including schools, libraries, park districts, arts and community organizations, and performing arts presenters to identify artists, companies and groups to perform in their communities.

Poster, Poetry, and Prose Contests

Deadline: February 3, 2025

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is inviting fifth and sixth grade writers and artists from around Illinois to participate in this year’s Poster, Poetry, and Prose Contest. The 2025 theme How Can You Slash Your Trash? invites students to think creatively about how to reduce the amount of waste they produce. 

Deadline: January 16, 2025

Through fellowships to published translators, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) supports projects for the translation of specific works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages into English. The work to be translated should be of interest for its literary excellence and merit.

Search for additional state and national resources for organizations through the IAC's Discipline-Specific Resources database.