SPARK Grant, Maker Grant and Coney Family Fund Award awardees announced

Chicago Artists Coalition (CAC) has announced a total of 28 awardees that will receive unrestricted funds during the 2020-2021 cycle. The awardees include 25 of the SPARK Grant program, two recipients of the MAKER Grant and one recipient of the Coney Family Fund Award. The Joyce Foundation and an anonymous donor supported the cause, which helped to expand the 25 SPARK Grant of unrestricted awards of $2,000 each.

The CAC is celebrating its 45^th anniversary this year. It has a strong history of supporting emerging Chicago-based visual artists through unrestricted grant funds. The CAC is now administrating a total of $61,000 in unrestricted grants to artists. This amount was five times greater than the administered amount only two years ago.

The SPARK Grant program supports creative endeavors of visual artists who identify as ALAANA. ALAANA stands for African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American. The grant also supports an artist with acute financial need, an artist with a disability, or as a self-taught artist whose art practice is a primary vocation.

The 2020 awardees are 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.

“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.”