Next Level Awards

The 3Arts Next Level Awards offer our past award recipients the opportunity to receive second awards at a higher level, reflecting our organization's belief that one-time investments are not always enough for artists to build lasting momentum, and that they thrive with continued support at critical junctures as their practices and careers evolve.

In 2026, the Next Level program will provide ten $50,000 awards to artists working in the following categories:

Next Level Music Awards: With support from the Paul Angell Foundation, this category is new for 2026 and honors two music artists. In 2026, these awards were open to artists in the Chicago metropolitan region who had received a past 3Arts Award in Music, a 3Arts/Bodies of Work Music Arts Residency, or a Make a Wave Award in Music.
Next Level Teaching Arts Awards: With support from the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 3Arts honors three teaching artists. In 2026, these awards were open to artists in the Chicago metropolitan region who had received a past 3Arts Award in Teaching Arts, a 3Arts/Bodies of Work Teaching Arts Residency, or a Make a Wave Award in Teaching Arts.
Next Level Theater Awards: With support from the Paul Angell Foundation, this category is new for 2026 and honors two theater artists. In 2026, these awards were open to artists in the Chicago metropolitan region who had received a past 3Arts Award in Theater, a 3Arts/Bodies of Work Theater Arts Residency, or a Make a Wave Award in Theater.
Next Level Visual Arts Awards: With support from an Anonymous Donor at the Chicago Community Foundation, 3Arts honors three women visual artists. In 2026, these awards were open to women visual artists in the Chicago metropolitan region who had received a past 3Arts Award in Visual Arts, a 3Arts/Bodies of Work Visual Arts Residency, or a Make a Wave Award in Visual Arts.

Profiles of Next Level Award recipients are accessible further below on this page, or download an awardee list in PDF here.

Selection Process

3Arts artists who meet the category and eligibility requirements above are invited to submit an online application. Distinguished selection panelists for each award category convene to review the applications and select the recipients. Recipients are artists who are actively making distinctive and compelling work; have plans to advance their next creative leap and/or project; and are at a critical juncture when an award of this size and nature could have a significant impact.

We express our gratitude to the most recent selection panelists.

2026

Sydney Chatman
Director, Producer, Writer, and Educator

Sydney Chatman (she/her) is a director, educator, mentor, producer, writer, and founding director of Fly Black Girl Education & Theatre. Using theater as a medium to conjure hope, justice, freedom, and joy, Chatman has been a teaching artist for 24 …
Sandra Delgado
Playwright and Actor Community Awardee

Sandra Delgado (she/her) is a Colombian-Chicagoan writer, performer, and producer who creates joyful spaces of connection for all. Hailed as “her own brand of triple threat” (New City Chicago), she writes plays inspired by underknown U.S. and Chicago histories centering …
Lional "Brother El" Freeman
Composer, Multidisciplinary Creative, and Educator

Lional “Brother El” Freeman (he/him) is a Chicago-based composer, Live PA electronic artist, audio engineer, educator, and multidisciplinary creative whose work moves between sound, media, youth authorship, public-space activation, and community healing. Raised in the hip-hop aesthetic and DIY movement, …
Cecilia Beaven
Multidisciplinary Visual Artist and Art Instructor Chandler Family Award

Cecilia Beaven (she/her) is a Chicago-based visual artist and art instructor from Mexico City. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Studio from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which she pursued as a Fulbright scholar, and …
Miranda Gonzalez
Writer, Director, and Producer Walder Foundation Awardee

Miranda Gonzalez (she/her), born and raised in the city of Chicago, is a writer, director, producer, facilitator, and organizational strategist with a Bachelor of Science from DePaul University and has co-created curricula addressing anti-Blackness in the Latiné community. Currently …
Stephanie Manriquez
Producer and Educator Reva and David Logan Foundation Award

Stephanie Manriquez (she/her) is an award-winning writer, radio producer, journalist, and teaching artist based in Chicago. She sees storytelling as a radical act for BIPOC communities and has committed herself to developing spaces for diverse voices to be heard with …
Meagan McNeal
Vocalist, Cultivator, and Mother Walder Foundation Awardee

Meagan McNeal (she/her) is a Chicago-born vocalist, creative entrepreneur, and cultural ecosystem builder whose work lives at the intersection of music, community, and possibilities. Known for a voice that is both commanding and deeply human, McNeal has built a career …
Farah Salem
Artist and Art Therapist HMS Fund Award

Farah Salem (she/her) is a Kuwaiti-Iraqi interdisciplinary artist and art therapist based in Chicago. Farah’s studio practice is rooted in photography, expanding through video, performance, fiber-materials, and installation. Her origins in photography influence the ways she uses materials to sensorily …
Brenda Torres-Figueroa
Interdisciplinary Artist, Arts Educator, and Curator

Brenda Torres-Figueroa (she/her/ella) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, curator, and cultural practitioner whose work bridges installation, performance, sound, photography, text, public art, and community-based artistic practice. Born in Puerto Rico and based in Chicago, her work investigates memory, migration, embodiment, …
Wanees Zarour
Composer, Multi-instrumentalist, and Educator

Wanees Zarour (he/him) is an award-winning Palestinian-American composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist steeped in Middle Eastern music and jazz traditions. His compositional and arranging styles transcend borders, drawing from traditions spanning the entire globe. He is a community leader who believes …