Celebrating creative enterprise and inclusive community

Who we are

The Vanguard Initiative for Arts & Enterprise supports organizations and individuals whose work enriches Chicago’s cultural landscape.

Our focus spans arts, wellness, education, and community-centered enterprises—particularly those creating meaningful engagement, strengthening neighborhoods, or expanding access to creative and restorative practices.

The Initiative operates as a private, non-public entity guided by a volunteer Board of Directors representing a wide range of disciplines and demonstrated professional and personal success.

How recognition works

The Initiative does not hold public application cycles. Instead, ongoing community observation and engagement guide our selections.

Board members meet routinely to review potential awardees, assess opportunity, and identify contributions that advance the spirit of creativity, access, and community benefit.

Recognition decisions emphasize impact over scale, creativity over convention, community value over organizational size, and a clear sense of sustainability and long-term benefit.

Performing Arts & Education

The Initiative maintains a core commitment to artistic expression and learning that enrich civic life and broadens cultural participation.

Support may include performing arts organizations, arts education programs, and collaborative projects that bring artists and audiences together in new ways.

Wellness in Queer Communities

The current cycle places particular emphasis on local wellness enterprises owned by or serving the LGBTQ+ community, with special attention to programs promoting inclusion across body type and age, and practices that create welcoming, affirming spaces.

Site visits & dialogue

Recognition decisions typically follow in-person or on-site visits by at least two board members. These visits provide an opportunity for direct engagement and a firsthand understanding of the work being done, the communities served, and the culture of the organization.

Whenever possible, visits are complemented by conversations with program leaders, participants, or community partners to gain a rounded sense of impact.

What we look for

• Artistic merit and demonstrated community benefit
• Transparent, fair conflict-resolution practices
• Emerging potential and long-term sustainability
• Meaningful inclusion across age, body diversity, and lived experience

Scale & Scope

The Vanguard Initiative supports local arts, wellness, and community-focused enterprises through a range of meaningful grants and recognitions.

Each annual cycle offers multiple awards, typically in the thousands-of-dollars range. This structure allows the Initiative to support both emerging efforts and more established programs within a single cycle.

Actual awards may vary as the Board tailors recognition to impact, opportunity, and available resources in a given year.

Honoraria & other forms of recognition

From time to time, the Initiative issues honoraria or other forms of recognition where a full award is not made, or where a different form of acknowledgement is more appropriate.

These gestures are used to acknowledge promise, creativity, and contribution that align with the spirit and vision of the Initiative, even when formal funding is not the primary outcome.