The Public Humanities Awards in photos

If a picture is worth a thousand words, we hope these pictures can tell you the story of this year’s Public Humanities Awards and our powerful community of public humanities advocates. 

Educators, nonprofit leaders, organizers, poets, students, civic leaders, and so many others gathered in Chicago for this year’s Awards on May 22 at Venue SIX10. With a view over Millenium Park and Lake Michigan, we met new faces and reunited with busy colleagues over energizing conversations about the humanities in Illinois, and the transformations we have witnessed through its practice. 

A big question lent the backdrop of the celebration, and our conversations: We should build monuments to…? As guests wrote their responses to be projected into the space, Czr Prz, a Chicago-based multi-faceted urban contemporary studio and street artist, a/k/a Artist Caesar Perez, live-illustrated our responses to create a digital tapestry of inspired visions.

We honored five remarkable individuals this year: Dr. Ada Cheng, Sherry Williams, Mark and Nadine York, and Beacon Award winner Jane M. Saks. The main event: the honor of hearing from the Awardees themselves to learn about their work, their inspirations, and their visions for the humanities in Illinois. Artist, writer, actress, and 2019 Awardee Cheryl Lynn Bruce tied the experience together with an original performance in honor of Jane Sakes, underscoring the power of community, love, and dedication to social change reflected by each awardee.

As guests took in the day and parted ways, they also partook in what has become a tradition at the Public Humanities Awards. Each table featured a centerpiece adorned with books donated by local publishers, sharing powerful stories of social change, history, and poetry, such as Anti-Racist Writing Workshop by Felicia Rose Chavez, Too Much Midnight by Krista Franklin, and the Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of the Midwest. As the event came to a close, these books were carefully browsed and taken home by guests; a tangible token of the gift of gathering in community.

Thanks to the friends, colleagues, and supporters who attended the Public Humanities Awards, we also reached an important milestone: more than $240,000 raised to support Illinois Humanities grants and free public programs throughout the state.

This is a story about what is possible when the humanities are at the forefront of public engagement, education, and community building. It’s a story we’ll keep telling as we work to make the humanities accessible to all Illinoisans, thanks to support from community members like you.

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