Illinois Arts and Humanities Month!

Illinois Humanities and the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) are proud to present Illinois Arts & Humanities Month. Throughout October, we encourage all Illinoisans to establish, deepen, and expand their relationships with the arts and humanities. Together, we celebrate the vital role that the arts and humanities play in our individual and shared community life. 

AH! Month, an expansion of Illinois Arts Week, began in 1978 and has led to hundreds of communities and countless individuals across the Land of Lincoln to become more aware of our state's vast cultural resources and to appreciate their animating force, economic impact, and power to unite. The importance of the arts and humanities was further recognized nationwide in 1993, when National Arts & Humanities Month was established and celebrated in October. It has since become the largest celebration of arts and culture in the United States.

Whether exploring or expressing the human condition, Illinois AH! Month is a great time to create and share more of these AH! moments with people throughout our communities statewide.

1. Join Governor JB Pritzker in affirming the role and value of the arts and humanities in our state. Follow the link to the Governor's official AH! Month Proclamation;
2. Create an AH! Month Proclamation of your own (and send us a copy!); 
3. Get social by posting your AH! moments using the hashtags #ILAH, #IAC, #ILHumanities;
4. Connect to something larger by using the AH! Month logo and the Americans for the Arts logo;
5. Share your AH! moments with our friends on Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/illinoisartscouncilagency and https://www.facebook.com/ILhumanities.

Performances, exhibitions, and other AH! inspiring events are happening all over our great state. Stay tuned for the Illinois Humanities calendar list to find something nearby. If you would like your events and programs listed on this page, please submit this form.

We also encourage all Illinoisans to consider planning their own celebration of AH! Month within their community.