The Rockford Art Museum’s new exhibition, The Laura and John Fraser Collection, opens tonight and surveys one of the most recent major gifts to the RAM Permanent Collection in its entirety. The Fraser Collection is a stellar compilation of 122 contemporary paintings, prints, drawings, mixed media, sculptures, and ephemera by an international roster of 57 artists, including several local and regional artists. Concurrent exhibitions at the museum include the 77th Young Artist Show and additional selections from the RAM Collection.

The Rockford New Play Festival provides an opportunity for aspiring and established playwrights from the Rockford area to have their work evaluated, selected, and presented professionally to the public alongside national and international playwrights. Members of the public have the opportunity to experience brand new theatrical ideas and participate in vital discourse with playwrights and other theater practitioners in attendance.

Final preparations are being done to get ready for the 32nd Annual Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition. The free, family-friendly winter event hosted by the Rockford Park District is scheduled to be held in Sinnissippi Park, 1401 N. Second St., Rockford, IL, January 17-20, 2018. Teams will come from all over the state to Rockford to compete for the right to represent Illinois in the U.S. Nationals Snow Sculpting Competition; there is also a high school division. The massive works of art also bring roughly 30,000 visitors to Sinnissippi Park every year.

The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois’ (CFNIL) scholarship application deadline is a little over two weeks away. While the deadline is closing in, there’s still time for students to complete the application. Yes, even if you haven’t started yet.

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Pharmacy at Rockford is proud to announce it has received a $38,870 grant for its project entitled “Investing in the Recruitment and Retention of Top Talent to the Profession of Pharmacy” from the Community Grants Program of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois (CFNIL) with support from the Dr. Louis and Violet Rubin Foundation. “The Community Foundation is honored to support UIC’s project,” said CFNIL President Jon Bates.

The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois (CFNIL) is proud to announce the recipients of Community Grants for the fall 2017 cycle. In total, CFNIL committed up to $1.9 million over the next three years to 79 projects, programs, and events operated by nonprofit organizations in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago Counties.

The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois will accept applications for the In Youth We Trust grant program until 5 p.m. on February 8, 2018.

The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois has awarded a three-year, $675,000 grant to Rock Valley College for its Linking Talent with Opportunity project. It is the single largest grant in the history of CFNIL’s Community Grants Program.

The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois (CFNIL) will open its scholarship application on Friday, December 1. CFNIL has 84 unique scholarships that will award more than $225,000 to local students this year. The application period will close at 5 p.m. on February 1, 2018. All of CFNIL’s scholarship endowments were created by individuals or organizations that recognize the importance of helping students achieve their educational goals, now and in perpetuity. The endowments’ creators selected the criteria for each scholarship, based on their interests and the community’s need.

Last week, Midway Village Museum unveiled 19 historical plaques in downtown Rockford. Through text and historical photos, the plaques illustrate the people who have impacted the area over the last two centuries. The plaques are part of the larger Rockford History Walks program which introduces history-curious visitors and residents to the entrepreneurs, social reformers, politicians, pioneers, immigrants, builders, veterans, religious leaders, and educators who have contributed to our city’s rich history.

Since it opened in 1971, the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford has graduated “1,800 physicians specializing in every field of medicine, many of whom work in Winnebago County,” according to Regional Dean Dr. Alex Stegnaro-Green.

The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois will accept applications for its scholarship program from December 1, 2017 to February 1, 2018, but there’s plenty students can do before the application opens to make applying as quick and easy as possible.

“Before European settlement, two-thirds of Illinois was tall grass prairie. Today, we find it virtually extinct,” says Bernie Buchholz of the Friends of Nachusa Grasslands. Over the past thirty years, The Nature Conservancy has preserved and restored 3,600 acres of prairie, woodlands, and wetlands in Franklin Grove. The Friends of Nachusa Grasslands, a volunteer organization founded in 2008, provides for the long-term care and management of the project.

The Community Scholarship Fair will be held on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Mendelssohn Hall (406 N. Main Street in Rockford).   The Community Scholarship Fair is hosted by the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois (CFNIL), Rock Valley College Foundation (RVC), and Rockford Public Library (RPL). At the free event, visitors can learn about more than $500,000 in scholarships and financial aid offered by local organizations for students in Northern Illinois.  

The RAAC Rockford Area Arts Council’s intensive ArtsPlace program mentors youth development through the arts. While students develop their artistic skills by serving as apprentices under professional artists, they are evaluated on essential skills like punctuality and productivity that they can bring with them into any job.

In 1955 and 1956, Rockford’s West High School Warriors won back-to-back state basketball championships, earning the title “the comeback kids” and blazing a trail for ethnic and racial unity in the process. The people of Rockford gave them a hero’s welcome home from the tournaments in Champaign, with more than 75,000 greeting them on their return in 1955 and more than 125,000 greeting them in 1956 after their second consecutive title.

This summer, the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois worked with the Harlem Veteran Project to produce a few short films about our grant and scholarship recipients, and the donors who make their work possible. The first film in our series is about the Bruce Munro: LIGHT exhibit at the Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens – Rockford Park District, a project that received a $35,000 grant from the Community Arts & Humanities Fund from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.  

The Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge is an opportunity for nonprofits in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties to build a permanent endowment at the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.

The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois is honored to receive a Business is Blooming award from the Rockford Area Convention & Vistors Bureau (RACVB). The award is given to businesses and organizations that make our region a more beautiful place with the care they put into their storefronts and surroundings. A news release describing the award and awardees is below.

Midway Village Museum is closing in on its goal to raise $150,000 as part of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois Carroll Starr Endowment Challenge campaign. The museum launched its campaign in December 2016 and recently received a major Leadership Gift from Alpine Bank in the amount of $15,000. The Leadership Gift helped the museum move closer to its goal of $150,000 for the campaign.

Last fall, the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois made a grant to the Rockford Symphony Orchestra (RSO) to help it reach new and diverse audiences. One of the funded projects was a podcast series hosted by the RSO’s Music Director Steve Larsen. In each episode, Larsen interviews a musician from the RSO about their instrument and life in music. In the first episode, Matt Gaunt, RSO’s tuba player, admits that he’s reformed marching band enthusiast, talks about his collection of brass instruments, and demonstrates how the tuba can be more sprightly than its reputation.