Envisioning Justice
Since 2017, Envisioning Justice has created free public arts and humanities programs in partnership with communities and people affected by the carceral system and provided grant funding for individuals, nonprofits, and collectives. Learn more about upcoming events, watch our past programs, download resources, and learn about grant funding below.
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Guests create a group artwork at an Envisioning Justice Activation event in Carbondale. (Photo by CM Designs & Photography)
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Tyreece Williams (left), program manager of Envisioning Justice, speaks with panelists about their reentry experiences. (Photo by Glitter Guts)
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The subject of a painting by Toni Picasso (Antonio Burton) poses with their portrait at an event in Carbondale, Ill. (Photo by CM Designs & Photography)
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Artist Vershawn Sanders-Ward performs at an Envisioning Justice event.
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Illinois Humanities Community Educator Meredith Nnoka presents a poem by Jimmie Moody, an incarcerated writer, at a program presented by WTTW's FIRSTHAND: Life After Prison and Illinois Humanities. (Photo by Glitter Guts)
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Participants in a performance artwork by Gabriel Villa enter the gallery space at SAIC where Envisioning Justice the Envisioning Justice Exhibition in 2019. (Photo by Haley Scott)
2023 Envisioning Justice Activation Series
Join us at an upcoming Activation event near you!
Illinois Humanities is collaborating with community organizations in six Illinois towns to host free public arts and educational programs for all ages.
These six events featuring the artists, educators, and organizers behind Envisioning Justice RE:ACTION create opportunities for us to reimagine timely conversations about justice, safety, community, and belonging.
Together, we’ll share stories, write poetry, see art, ask big questions, and learn from the wisdom each of us holds.
Our ideas will contribute to the growing archive of community responses to mass incarceration on the RE:ACTION website.
Envisioning Justice Grants
Grantmaking is a critical component of Envisioning Justice. Through the Envisioning Justice grants program, Illinois Humanities partners with groups throughout the state to use the arts and humanities to spark statewide conversations about the impact of mass incarceration, envision community-based solutions, and facilitate healing.
Envisioning Justice offers two grant opportunities: Grants of up to $5,000 are available to individuals; Grants of up to $10,000 are available to organizations and collectives.
Envisioning Justice RE:ACTION
Browse dynamic works of visual art, creative writing, music, film, scholarship, and more in Envisioning Justice RE:ACTION, an interactive virtual exhibition and Activation Kit created by Illinois artists and humanists to deepen our understanding of our punitive criminal legal system and its personal, local, and global impacts. Experience their work and put what you learn into practice in the Activation Kit, with more than a dozen prompts to lead you through real-world activities to question our relationships to the carceral state, encourage healing, and share how you envision justice.
Tea Project (Aaron Hughes and Amber Ginsburg)
Reparations Now! | The Dynamo and The Black Box
Article Spotlight
Explore Past Programs
View highlights from recent virtual programs on our YouTube channel.
Visions of Justice: A 7-part video series about the impacts of the carceral state on 7 Illinois communities (2021). Watch the full series on YouTube.
Rapid Response: A virtual event series featuring curated performances and presentations by artists and advocates (2020-2021). Watch the full series on YouTube.
Resources
The Envisioning Justice RE:ACTION Workbook (2023)
The RE:ACTION Workbook includes 10 unique activities designed especially for incarcerated individuals, with step-by-step instructions that invite individuals and pairs to start conversations, learn from one another, foster healing, and share how they envision justice. Created by and for people with lived experience of incarceration, the Workbook was built from the conviction that art, writing, and shared conversation have the power to create change. View the Workbook and request printed copies on the RE:ACTION website.
Envisioning Justice RE:VISION Companion Guide (2020)
Created as a companion to the 2020 program, Envisioning Justice RE:VISION, viewable above, the companion guide offers resources, inspiration, and additional readings curated by the Envisioning Justice team and our collaborators.
Contact Us
Program Manager
ejustice@ilhumanities.org
(312) 374-1565
Contact
Suite 650, 125 South Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60603
312.422.5580 312.374.6787
600 Troy Road
N4, Room 207
Edwardsville, IL 62025
618.468.5580
Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Illinois Humanities respects the privacy of its audiences and will at no time sell or distribute personal information to any party not directly affiliated with Illinois Humanities and its programs.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, our partnering organizations, or our funders.
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