RESOURCES

Celebrating Youth Creativity, Growth, and Community The Holiday Showcase was a powerful celebration of youth talent, creative achievement, and community care. Held in a warm, festive atmosphere, the event brought together young artists, teaching artists, staff, and community partners in the gym of the IYC Chicago facility to honor a season of growth and transformation through music and poetry. SGLAI provided audio production and music for the event. The evening opened with gr

On December 4, 2025, Stomping Grounds Literary Arts Initiative joined the Poetry Foundation, the City of Chicago, and an extraordinary group of poets to celebrate the full video release of Chicago Soul Poem: A City That Writes Together   at the Poetry Foundation. The evening marked the culmination of a months-long collaboration led by Avery R. Young , Chicago Poet Laureate , bringing together 31 poets whose work reflects the soul, resilience, and complexity of Chicago. The ro

Pocket Con 2025 Recap video Despite a full-on Chicago blizzard, Pocket Con 2025  was one of our most powerful and well-attended gatherings to date. Artists, youth, families, cosplayers, educators, gamers, and creatives showed up with warmth, joy, and purpose—proving once again that community will always find a way. Hosted at the Chicago History Museum , Pocket Con 2025 celebrated Black, Brown, LGBTQIA+, women, youth, and independent creators through comics, performance, works

I have been teaching in juvenile centers for over 15 years and have been to countless gallery openings, but few moments have touched me...

On July 2, 2025, internationally acclaimed hip-hop artist and educator Stanley “Substantial” Robinson—joined by members of his band The...

Kicked Off On June 3rd, the walls of HaiBaYo Cares pulsed with live music, creativity, and collaboration as young artists came together...