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.

None

2026

  • A woman with long dark hair stands against a plain wall, wearing a nude corset. She faces forward with a neutral expression.

    Camila Arévalo

     Experience-based Artist and Curator

    Camila Arévalo (she/her) was raised in the mountains of Ibagué, Colombia, beside a creek, and among the guava and almond trees, carpets of rose apple, and pringamoza leaves. 

    Camila is an animal, transexual, and visual artist working at the intersection …

  • A white, queer androgynous person with a red curly hair, a close cropped side, glasses and grey eyes stands in front of their studio.

    Shea Cahill

     Artist and Musician

    Shea Cahill (they/them) is a queer artist originally from Pensacola, FL who came to Chicago in 2010 and attended the Harrington College of Design's graphic design program. In Chicago, they have become involved in the independent art scene, showing paintings …

  • A white, queer transmasculine person sits in front of a brown and blue back drop. They have light brown hair in a shag cut, with brown eyes and fair skin. They are wearing a silky white button up,

    Fionn Casper-Strauss (aka Boots)

     Multidisciplinary Theater and Drag Artist

    Fionn Casper-Strauss (aka Boots) (he/they), is a multidisciplinary performance artist based in Chicago and frequently found in LA. He has a lot of fun on the stage, specializing in Drag performance, clowning, and absurd theater. Fionn utilizes colorful costumes, …

  • None

    Eseosa Ekiawowo Edebiri

     Textile Designer and Fiber Artist
    Eseosa Edebiri is a Nigerian American teaching artist, teaching 3D Foundations at Chicago Arts High School. Edebiri received a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has exhibited work in spaces such as The New Orleans …
  • A black and white photo of a Colombian woman with long dark hair.

    Gabriela Estrada Loochkartt

     Multidisciplinary artist

    Gabriela Estrada Loochkartt (she/her) is a Colombian artist based in Chicago. Her sculptures, weavings, and performances embody ways of thinking in which care is activated as a form of healing against systems of domination. Her ecofeminist research is tactile and …

  • Sam is a Black man with glasses, wearing a black hat, a checkered shirt with a turquoise bolo tie, and a black vest. He's sitting in an empty theater. Photo by the artist.

    Samuel J. Lewis, II

     Puppeteer and Storyteller

    Sam (he/him) is a puppeteer, teaching artist, and arts administrator whose work bridges tradition, innovation, and community. With a background in theater, Sam discovered puppetry by accident whileperforming. He quickly realized puppetry as a powerful medium for storytelling—one that merges …

  • None

    Fred Jackson Jr.

     Musician, Composer, Multi Instrumentalist, and Educator

    Fred Jackson Jr. (he/him) is a Chicago-based saxophonist born in 1974 in Fort Worth, Texas. He became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) In 2010. Alongside his musical ventures he has expanded into musical …

  • None

    Tanuja Jagernauth

     Playwright, Director, Dramaturg, and Educator

    Tanuja Devi Jagernauth (she/her) is an Indo-Caribbean PIC abolitionist, writer, theater maker, and yoga educator who believes in the necessity of creation during times of destruction. She is an In/House Artist-in-Residence with Free Street Theater and the co-facilitator of Understory, …

  • A close-up shot captures a smiling plus-sized Black woman with short, curly black hair that has blonde highlights. She is seated in a black wheelchair with a high headrest against a plain, light grey background.

    Cherlnell Lane

     Writer, Performer, Playwright, Teacher, and Experience-Curator

    Cherlnell Lane (she/her), AKA The Poetic-Storyteller, is a performer, playwright, author, and Linguistic Alchemist. She doesn’t just share words; she has a stage presence that is both commanding and profoundly intimate. Cherlnell pulls words off the page and breathes …

  • An Asian, queer, nonbinary person with glasses and dark hair. The hair is shaved short on the sides with a small top knot bun. They are wearing a dark button-down shirt with white, blue, pink flowers in front of a blurry, light colored window. They use th

    Caroline Michele Uy

     Dramaturg, Stage Manager, and Producer

    Caroline Michele Uy (they/them) is a freelance producer, dramaturg, and stage manager, who has worked at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Raven TheatreChicago, Steep Theatre, and other Chicago theaters. They are a proud ensemble member of Rivendell Theatre, where they also …

  • A Latin American person with long, dark, curly hair and brown eyes sits in front of a neutral background wearing a brown leather jacket; she uses she/they pronouns.

    Érika Ordos

     Performance Artist, Poet, Educator, and Activist

    Erika Ordos (she/they) is a Venezuelan artist who investigates the body as a site of struggle and a vehicle for freedom. Their current work explores collective memory and radical vulnerability. Through the storytelling workshop series Mi Propio Beta, they …

  • A brown latinx trans-masculine non-binary person sitting outside under the sunset sun. They have dark hair, dark eyes, dark shirt, nose rings and ear gauges.

    Eme Ospina-López

     Artivist, Projections Designer, and Transdisciplinary Collaborator

    Eme Ospina-López (they/él) is a shapeshifting storyteller and trans artivist. Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia Eme is now weaving roots in communities across and beyond Chicago. By crafting live experiences and bringing new works to life, Eme dedicates their …

  • A black man, alethic build with brown locs and brown eyes with Chicago skyline background, blue sky; he use he/him pronouns

    Dion "iCrisis" Randle

     Krump Artist, Choreographer and Teaching Artist

    Dion “iCrisis” Randle (he/him) is a Chicago-based choreographer, performer, and dance educator who has dedicated more than twenty years to studying, practicing, and preserving the culture of Krump. As a respected leader within Chicago’s Krump community, he works to create …

  • The image presents a Black woman with voluminous deep cherry red curly hair and brown eyes, photographed against a muted purple backdrop wearing a gray top and gold hoop earrings. She faces the camera with a relaxed posture and direct soft gaze expression

    Zakia Rowlett

     Art Director and Interdisciplinary Printmaker

    Zakia Rowlett (she/her) is an Art Director and Interdisciplinary Printmaker who creates digital and print-based works surrounding identity shaping and self-devotion. She approaches printmaking as both a historical tool for knowledge sharing and a philosophical process for examining interdependency, with …

  • This image depicts the artist, (Frank Vega) facing the left side with a look of determination. He is wearing a black long sleeve button up shirt. The image is more or less in landscape style cutting off at shoulder level. There is nothing other than the a

    Frank Vega

     Multidisciplinary Artist, Director, and Educator

    Frank Vega (he/him) (b. 1992, Ecuador) is a Chicago-based artist working across sculpture, painting, sound, and installation. His practice examines how value is produced, circulated, and transformed through material culture. Through Desencanto, the process of reconfiguring the utility, value, and …

More Award Years