Lookingglass is an ensemble-based company that primarily produces new work, both original plays and adaptations, created by our ensemble.

USA Fellowships are annual $50,000 unrestricted awards recognizing the most compelling artists working and living in the United States, in all disciplines, at every stage of their career. Each year, individual artists and collaboratives are anonymously nominated to apply by a geographically diverse and rotating group of artists, scholars, critics, producers, curators, and other arts professionals. Applications are reviewed by discipline-specific panels who select the finalists, which are then approved by our Board of Trustees.

The Berresford Prize is an unrestricted $25,000 award given annually to a cultural practitioner who has contributed significantly to the advancement, well-being, and care of artists in society. Introduced in 2019, the award was conceived of by several USA Fellows in response to the lack of acknowledgment for those who have dedicated their careers to the betterment of artists. Named for our co-founder Susan V. Berresford, this prize reinforces our commitment to artists by acknowledging the remarkable administrators, curators, scholars, and producers who are building platforms and creating...

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation partners with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to provide general operating grants to Chicago arts and cultural organizations with annual operating budgets up to $500,000.

The Verse Drama Prize seeks to bring renewed attention to an under-recognized area of poetry. The prize will honor a living poet who has written a previously unpublished, outstanding original verse drama in English. The award recipient will receive a cash purse of $10,000 and a staged reading of his or her winning manuscript in Chicago. Awards will be named annually or from time to time, as appropriate to maintain the prestige and quality of the prizes.

MPAACT exists to develop, nurture, and sustain Afrikan Centered Theatre (ACT), an artistic expression grounded in the many cultures and traditions of the Afrikan continent and its Diaspora. With a vision focused on creating new work and collaborative art, MPAACT produces and educates with the goal of increasing understanding and appreciation of (ACT) and its interrelated disciplines.

Saper Law is an intellectual property, social media, entertainment, and business law firm with headline grabbing clients and cases. We’re best known for our expertise in handling business contract negotiations, drafting complex software, domain name, trademark, and copyright licensing agreements, drafting sweepstakes and contest rules, organizing new LLCs or Corporations, and generally serving as outside “inside” counsel to many creative individuals and innovative business organizations.

Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries We foster excellence in our industries through education, networking, and camaraderie with industry leaders and colleagues.

It is impossible to honor professional cores values of librarians—first amendment, equity of access, and inclusion—without copyright law. Without it, libraries would be unable to loan books, preserve content, and exercise fair use. Libraries have a privileged position in the law with individual exceptions that apply only to non-profit libraries and archives. Congress recognized that libraries are sites of learning, where protected content will be continually available, distributed, used, and preserved to further knowledge, fostering the Constitutional purpose of the law “to advance the...

Launched in the Spring of 2018, the Vanguard Initiative is COT’s three-pronged approach to the development of new opera. COT Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya leads the Initiative as the Vanguard Artistic Director. Vanguard Emerging Opera Composer Program COT identifies promising composers ready to hone the specific skillset required to create quality opera. Composers become an integral part of the company for a period of two years of paid residency activities, including mentorship from COT staff, industry leaders, and Vanguard Composer Mentor Jake Heggie. The program culminates in a full-...

Chicago Opera Theater is a company laser-focused on living its values: • expanding the tradition of opera as a living art form • producing high-quality works new to Chicago audiences • identifying top-tier casts and creative talent • following through on commitments to equity and access – behind the scenes, on the stage, and in the audience Since its founding in 1973, in a city where storefront theaters and global icons thrive side by side, COT has grown from a grassroots, community-based company to a national leader in an increasingly vibrant, diverse, and forward-looking art form. COT...