HISTORY & PROCESS | VISION | CIRCLE MEMBERS | GRANTEES
2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006

Backstory Social Center | Creative Justice

Backstory is a cafe and social center in Woodlawn committed to creating a space that is accessible and appealing to a diverse population. FTT funds will help develop an expanded infoshop, which will allow more space for resource sharing and will enhance programming that highlights the importance of participatory media and knowledge creation.
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The Chicago Wisdom Project | Education

Chicago Wisdom Project empowers youth to create a more meaningful and compassionate culture through creativity by providing mentoring and the guidance of elders in pursuing their passion. This award will fund stipends that will cover the costs of the creative projects for five young people.
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Gender JUST | Visual Art

Gender JUST (Justice United for Societal Transformation) is a local direct action organizing project of Queer, Trans and Gender-Non-Conforming (QTGNC) communities. Funding will be used to provide art supplies for Create for Justice, for which participants will create visual social justice art that expresses their commitment to racial, economic and gender justice.
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re[public] in/decency/ | Performance

re[public] in/decency, founded by Coman Poon and Erica Mott, is an inter-arts activist initiative and experiential think tank that explores the trans-national intersections between performance art, social justice activism and arts-informed pedagogy. The Biology as Biography Project is a creative collaboration with the Chicago and Evanston Armenian Diaspora community that includes a series of storytelling workshops and performances with members of the local Armenian community built around the broad notion of: "Invisible Stories."
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PROYECTO LATINA | Journalism/Literary

PROYECTO Latina is a multi-media project that includes a live monthly reading series and a website that create a culture of self-empowerment. It spotlights emerging and established Latina talent, creates safe spaces for underserved Latina communities and provides a virtual platform to chronicle stories, share resources and start dialogue. Funds will be used to purchase video cameras for website interviews with Latina writers as well as the creation of chap books.
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Still Point Theater Collective

Still Point Theatre Collective will facilitate a new theatre project with a group of formerly incarcerated women called Matters of the Heart. The woman of Matters of the Heart will put together an educational performance/presentation to tour around Chicago, specifically for youth, on ways to break free from the cycle of violence that many of youth live within. The Fire This Time Fund award will pay the cost of stipends for the ten Cluster of Roses participants.
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Half Letter Press | Literary

This project is a collaborative effort between Half Letter Press/Temporary Services and Mary Patten. Funds will be used to publish a book excavating the political practice and visual propaganda of the Madame Binh Graphics Collective, a women's poster, printmaking, and street art collective based in New York City between 1975 and 1983 that fought racism and acted in solidarity with anti-colonial movements.
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A Long Walk Home, Inc. | Creative Justice

The Girl/Friends summer institute is a three-week long comprehensive sexual health and sexual assault awareness and prevention program. Multi-media/multidisciplinary arts and sexual health education will be used in order to train African American and Latino adolescent girls from the North Lawndale Charter Preparatory High School to become peer leaders in their school and the greater North Lawndale community. Funds will be used for the Community Summer Showcase performance and exhibition at the Murphy-Hill Gallery.
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Shannon Heffernan Audio Project | Audio

This project is a true democratization of media by facilitating collaborations between professional media makers and people who often do not have access to the technology, skill sets, and time needed to participate in the new media landscape. A series of audio reports on families and prison will be made using collaborative documentary, where the impacted individual is given control over telling their own stories. Fund will support five stipends for the people sharing their stories.

Chicago Books to Women in Prison | Film/Video

Chicago Books to Women in Prison operates a steady and growing all-volunteer collective working to distribute books free of charge to people in women's prisons nationwide. Funds will be used to produce a video showcasing what Chicago Books to Women in Prison does and how they continue to strive towards prisoner solidarity.
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JUSTFM Entertainment | Film/Video

Up Against the Wall is a project of JUSTFM Entertainment, an organization that provides artistic, educational, cultural and health programs for young people and their families, which serve as an outlet for self-expression and community building. The project is a reality-based documentary series that follows the daily grind of the Chicago native recording artist Just Flo, Uneq'ka and her crew the Urban Angels.
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