Make a Wave

Make a Wave is an artist-to-artist grant program that erases the traditional gatekeeper by inviting each of the previous year’s 3Arts Awards recipients to select another artist to receive a surprise award from 3Arts—in effect sending a wave through Chicago’s brilliant cultural core.

We send special thanks to our 2019 Make a Wave Partner, the Siragusa Family Foundation, and to the Reva and David Logan Foundation, who provided general operating support that enabled us to increase the grants to $2,000 this year. 

2019 Make a Wave Partner

Siragusa Family Foundation Logo

artists sitting in a row in a theater with a spotlight on them

2019

  • A light-skinned person with very short hair and a neutral expression stands in front of a brick wall with plants in the background. She wears a dark blue sweater with a crew neck collar..

    Rebecca Beachy

    Artist, Writer, Educator Make a Wave Artist

    Rebecca is a queer, Chicago-based artist, writer and educator whose practice explores the complex relationships we have with the natural world. Sculptures, collected/transformed matter, and de-compositions (objects and sculptures that lose structure with time) are deployed to call in and …

  • She her pronouns white presenting female. Hair is brown and usually in braids or a head wrap. Short & curvy sometimes in glasses raspy and aggressive voice.

    Jacinda Bullie

    Creative Instigator Community Award

    As a sage burning Muslim mom of three athletes, and partner to Chicago Public School math teacher and Hip-Hop lyricist, I know the importance of having access to healthy expression. These co-conspirator relations challenge toxic norms and encourage me to …

  • Laura Crotte

    Laura Crotte

    Actor, Director, Musician Make a Wave Artist

    Laura Crotte, a native from Mexico City with a decade in Veracruz and residency in Chicago for over 20 years, is a solo performer, theater actress, stage director, and deviser of multidisciplinary experiences in workshop, training, lecture, or performance formats. …

  • None

    Crystle Diño

    Art Therapist, Visual and Performance Artist Make a Wave Artist

    Crystle Diño, a Pinay Chicago native, is guided by her passions in the visual, performance, and healing arts, which are rooted in her community and cultural upbringing. She unearths her story and investigates time, place, and relations by incorporating elements …

  • None

    Star Dixon

    Dancer, Choreographer Make a Wave Artist

    Star Dixon is an assistant director, choreographer, and original principal dancer of world-renowned tap company, M.A.D.D. Rhythms. She has taught and performed at some of the most distinguished tap festivals in the world. Most recently she performed as a …

  • None

    Uriel Gómez

    Costume Designer Make a Wave Artist

    URIEL GÓMEZ is a costume designer. Design credits include the Chicago premieres of Head Over Heels (Kokandy Productions); The Madres, The Wolf At The End Of The Block, Parachute Men (Teatro Vista); Small World, Punk! (The New Colony); …

  • None

    A. Martinez

    Visual Artist, Arts & Community Organizer, Poet Make a Wave Artist

    A.Martinez is an interdisciplinary visual artist, poet, mother, and community and arts organizer living in Chicago. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Writing Program. Her work explores identity, memory, spirituality, and the body …

  • None

    A.J. McClenon

    Interdisciplinary Artist Gary & Denise Gardner Fund Awardee

    Originally, I was born and raised in “DC proper,” and I now call Chicago my second home. In 2014 I received a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Beforehand I received a Bachelor …

  • None

    Ciera McKissick

    Artist, Curator, Producer Make a Wave Artist

    Ciera McKissick is the founder of AMFM, a creative arts brand based in Chicago. She created AMFM, originally a web magazine, as an independent study project during her senior year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she studied Journalism and …

  • None

    Marcela Torres

    Visual & Performance Artist, Educator Make a Wave Artist

    Marcela Torres is an artist, organizer, and educator that uses strength-building exercises and community rituals, to propose forms of reparations. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah and residing nomadically between Chicago,IL and Brooklyn,NY. Their physical research builds on methods of …

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