Illinois Arts and Humanities Month!

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Features
Illinois Humanities

Read Time 2 minutes
October 2, 2024

Illinois Humanities and the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) are proud to present Illinois Arts & Humanities Month. Throughout October, we encourage all Illinoisans to establish, deepen, and expand their relationships with the arts and humanities. Together, we celebrate the vital role that the arts and humanities play in our individual and shared community life. 

AH! Month, an expansion of Illinois Arts Week, began in 1978 and has led to hundreds of communities and countless individuals across the Land of Lincoln to become more aware of our state's vast cultural resources and to appreciate their animating force, economic impact, and power to unite. The importance of the arts and humanities was further recognized nationwide in 1993, when National Arts & Humanities Month was established and celebrated in October. It has since become the largest celebration of arts and culture in the United States.

Whether exploring or expressing the human condition, Illinois AH! Month is a great time to create and share more of these AH! moments with people throughout our communities statewide.

  1. Join Governor JB Pritzker in affirming the role and value of the arts and humanities in our state. Follow the link to the Governor's official AH! Month Proclamation;
  2. Create an AH! Month Proclamation of your own (and send us a copy!); 
  3. Get social by posting your AH! moments using the hashtags #ILAH, #IAC, #ILHumanities;
  4. Connect to something larger by using the AH! Month logo and the Americans for the Arts logo;
  5. Share your AH! moments with our friends on Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/illinoisartscouncilagency and https://www.facebook.com/ILhumanities.

Performances, exhibitions, and other AH! inspiring events are happening all over our great state. Stay tuned for the Illinois Humanities calendar list to find something nearby. If you would like your events and programs listed on this page, please submit this form.

We also encourage all Illinoisans to consider planning their own celebration of AH! Month within their community.

2024 Illinois AH! Month Events Calendar

Attend an arts and humanities event this month! Below is a list of events happening throughout Illinois. If you would like your event added here, please complete this form

In addition, Illinois Humanities' Road Scholars are performing throughout Illinois during October. Find a Road Scholar event near you.

Champaign County

URBANA

Cook County

CHICAGO

DES PLAINES

  • FOOTLOOSE, The Musical
    Now through October 13
    Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. | Sundays at 2:00 p.m.
    Prairie Lakes Theater (515 E Thacker St)
    $25 - $35/person | Buy tickets

EVANSTON

MAYWOOD

SKOKIE

DeKalb County

SYCAMORE

DuPage County

ELMHURST

Kane County

AURORA

Lake County

LAKE FOREST

 

RIVERWOODS

Livingston County

DWIGHT

  • From the Emerald Isle to the Prairieland Exhibition
    Open Now through January 1, 2025 (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., 2nd & 4th Saturdays, or by appointment)
    Dwight Historical Society Museum (119 W Main St)
    For more information or to make an appointment to view the exhibition, call (815) 584-2107.
Madison County

EAST ALTON

  • Reversing Course: the Illinois River in 1900 and Today
    Exhibition Open Now through October 30, 2024
    National Great Rivers Museum (2 Lock and Dam Way)
    For more information, call (618) 462-6979.
Peoria County

PEORIA

Sangamon County

SPRINGFIELD

Schuyler County

RUSHVILLE

Warren County

MONMOUTH

Woman In The Woods: New Work by Janis Mars Wunderlich
Art Exhibit Open Now through October 25, 2024
Everett Gallery (Hewes Library at Monmouth College, 770 E Clinton Ave)
FREE. Open daily during Library hours.

Events in Illinois beyond October 2024