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Issue 79 / January 30, 2026
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In this issue:
• IAC Announces FY27 General Operating Support Guidelines and Webinar
• IAC Creative Learning Grants for Schools Drop-In #3 Scheduled for February 3
• Illinois Humanities Project Grants Now Available
• Cultural Access Collaborative Equipment Loan Social
• Poetry Foundation Fellowship Applications Now Open!
• Illinois Artist Spotlight
• Additional Opportunities
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Illinois Arts Council Announces
Fiscal Year 2027 General Operating Support
Guidelines and Webinar
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The Illinois Arts Council (IAC) is pleased to announce the release of its Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) General Operating Support (GOS) guidelines and webinar. GOS includes optional application questions for IAC's Youth Employment in the Arts (YEA) Grant. GOS grants are offered to eligible not-for-profit organizations that provide ongoing arts programming to their defined communities in a manner that supports the mission of the organization. YEA grants provide funding to support youth employment opportunities in their organization throughout the year.
The application will be available on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, and the deadline is Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at 11:59pm. The application must be submitted via IAC's Salesforce grant portal.
A prerecorded webinar is available on IAC's website. The IAC will also host five "Drop-In'' sessions to answer any questions you may have. Drop-in sessions are one-hour sessions that have no agenda. Participants may ask questions of the participating Program Staff and get answers in real time. Drop-ins do not require pre-registration. Simply click the link at the time of the meeting to join the call via WebEx. Visit the General Operating Supportwebpage for details.
For more information, please contact your Regional Program Director.
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Illinois Humanities Project Grants Now Available
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Illinois Humanitiesis now offering Project Grantsup to $4,000. These grants are open to individuals and nonprofit organizations pursuing innovative programming in the digital humanities, for audience engagement, or audience growth and diversification. From oral history projects to filmmaking, these initiatives inspire risk-taking in the public humanities, paving the way for others to follow. Partnering with individuals and organizations in this work helps us all to learn how to grow audiences for the humanities in new and engaging ways. The application deadline is February 13, 2026.
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Illinois artists and cultural organizations are invited to the 2026 Collab Social hosted by the Cultural Access Collaborative. This event focuses on enhancing accessibility in cultural spaces and offers a unique opportunity to explore Access Living's art gallery. Attendees will gain insight into the Collab's Equipment Loan Program, which provides captioning equipment, assistive listening devices, and audio description kits free of charge to artists and organizations in Chicago.
The event will take place on Saturday, February 21, 2026, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time at Access Living, located at 115 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL. Participants can join a hands-on tour of the equipment, network with other community members, and learn about upcoming updates to the Equipment Loan system. To attend, please register using the provided link below.
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The Poetry Foundationinvites Illinois poets to apply for the 2026 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships. These prestigious fellowships award $27,000 each to five exceptional poets aged 21 to 31. Established in 1989 by Ruth Lilly and expanded in 2013 with a gift from the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Fund, the fellowships aim to assist poets who have not yet received significant institutional backing.
The applications deadline is March 2, 2026, at 5:00PM (CT). Eligible poets must register through the Poetry Foundation's Grants and Awards Online Portal, where they will submit 10 pages of poetry and details about their creative practices. A virtual information sessionwill be held on February 11, 2026, from 12:00-1:00PM (CT), providing insights into the application process. For alternative application formats or accessibility needs, contact [email protected] by February 14, 2025.
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Illinois Artist Spotlight
Christine Steyer, FY26 Creative Accelerator Fund Recipient
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Christine Steyer, 2020 Honored Artist of The American Prize, has distinguished herself as a soprano, music advocate, librettist, and producer. Renowned for portrayals of operatic heroines, she sang in 40 productions with Lyric Opera of Chicagoand is a committed recitalist championing works by contemporary women poets and composers. In 2021 she premiered the role of a healthcare worker in the award-winning opera On Call: COVID-19;in 2022 she premiered Flanna in Future Perfect, serving as librettist for both. More recently she has been featured in Elijah, Speed Dating Tonight, and Le dernier sorcier. Her 2026 season includes music by Jake Heggie and the role of the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro. Beyond performance, Steyer has brought music to more than 26,000 young people, co-founded the vocal alliance Working in Concert, and serves as Artistic Director of its Bellissima Opera initiative.
Grateful for support from the IAC, Steyer says, "The IAC Accelerator grant is invaluable in supporting the range of projects I'm currently working on." Those projects include a new opera libretto, And I Did Not Speak Out, exploring silence in the face of fascism; music videos of original songs co-created with French composer-pianist Jean-Claude Orfali; recordings of songs by Chicago-based composers including Florence Price and Ernst Bacon; and development of a new Bellissima Music in the Schools curriculum featuring songs by Hispanic and American composers. "IAC funding supports both out-of-pocket expenses and the countless hours musicians devote to projects from inception to fruition. This grant acknowledges the value artists bring to enrich and inspire their communities."
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Other Opportunities You May Have Missed
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The Muse, the Illinois Arts Council Newsletter, is published weekly. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the IAC is strictly prohibited. The Muse is distributed free of charge.
Do you have an arts story you think Illinois needs to hear about? We want to hear from you! Submissions should focus on artist/organizational opportunities or on the impact of the arts on communities, the people creating art, or those experiencing art. Share your story with our Director of Communications at [email protected]. The IAC reserves the right to edit or reject any material.
This week's Muse banner features a budding young artist at the Discovery Center Museumat 711 North Main St. in Rockford, Illinois. Photo courtesy of the museum.
arts.illinois.gov
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