Make a Wave
Make a Wave is an artist-to-artist giving program that erases the traditional gatekeeper by inviting each of the previous year’s 3Arts Award recipients to select another artist to receive a surprise grant 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

2019
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Rebecca Beachy
Artist, Writer, Educator Make a Wave ArtistRebecca Beachy is an artist, writer, and educator in Chicago whose practice involves deepening attention to the materialities inherent in both urban and natural orbits. Her work engages the many subtleties and the complex relationships we have with the natural …
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Jacinda Bullie
Teaching Artist, Activist, Performer Make a Wave ArtistAn activist by temperament and daughter of a Choctaw, Jacinda (aka Jah da Amp Mouth) is a practicing mom of three and in love with a mathematical genius. Jacinda is a sage burning Muslim full of gratitude. Prior to rhymes, …
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Laura Crotte
Actor, Director, Musician Make a Wave ArtistLaura 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. …
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Crystle Diño
Art Therapist, Visual and Performance Artist Make a Wave ArtistCrystle 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 …
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Star Dixon
Dancer, Choreographer Make a Wave ArtistStar 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 …
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Uriel Gómez
Costume Designer Make a Wave ArtistURIEL 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); …
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A. Martinez
Visual Artist, Arts & Community Organizer, Poet Make a Wave ArtistA.Martinez is a poet, visual artist, 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 in 2009 and will release a book of poetry and …
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A.J. McClenon
Interdisciplinary Artist Gary & Denise Gardner Fund AwardeeOriginally, 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 …
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Ciera McKissick
Artist, Curator, Producer Make a Wave ArtistCiera 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 …
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Marcela Torres
Visual & Performance Artist, Educator Make a Wave ArtistBorn in Salt Lake City, Utah and residing in Chicago, Illinois, Marcela Torres mobilizes sound, sweat, and emotional projection to build sensorial performances. These experiences provide a portal into the sensoria of marginalized bodies and are designed to be ingested …