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21Minus | Call for Proposals

January 21, 2026 - February 21, 2026

21Minus | What Was, What is, June 17, 2023. Photo: Shelby Ragsdale, © MCA Chicago. 2025/09/21Minus_2023-205.jpg
A person writes on a brown wall filled with other paper and a wooden bed filled with black and white images and text. The largest text written on the wall reads do you remember how you drew as a child
People gather around artworks hung on divider walls next to windows.
White sculptures hang from a metal structure under a white canopy. Two people gather around the artworks and a man lying on the ground looking at one of them.
21Minus | What Was, What is, June 17, 2023. Photo: Shelby Ragsdale, © MCA Chicago. 2025/09/21Minus_2023-205.jpg
A person writes on a brown wall filled with other paper and a wooden bed filled with black and white images and text. The largest text written on the wall reads do you remember how you drew as a child
People gather around artworks hung on divider walls next to windows.
White sculptures hang from a metal structure under a white canopy. Two people gather around the artworks and a man lying on the ground looking at one of them.

Are you a Chicagoland resident under 21?
Do you have something to say?
Are you excited to engage hundreds of museum visitors, other youth, and artists?

Submit your project for 21Minus! (The form opens on January 21.)

On Saturday, June 20, 2026, youth take over the MCA with installations, workshops, performances, videos, music, and print works, all made by artists under 21 and community partners who support Chicagoland youth.

21Minus is a one-day showcase curated and produced by TCA with support from Lead Artists Olive Stefanski and Miguel Limon, and Ahmad Bracey, Manager of Youth and Schools. During 21 Minus museum admission is free for people ages 21 and under and their families.

Check out the FAQs for more information about 21Minus and making a great proposal. If you have additional questions about the process or have questions about 21Minus in general, contact us at [email protected].

Funding

Generous support for the Teen Creative Agency is provided by the Dr. Scholl Foundation and Peoples Gas Community Fund at The Chicago Community Foundation. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

Peoples Gas Community Fund logo

Major support for Learning programs at the MCA is provided by Crown Family Philanthropies and Carol Prins and John Hart/The Jessica Fund.

Additional generous support is provided by the Friends of Edwin A. Bergman Fund, the Hulda B. & Maurice L. Rothschild Foundation, Diane Kahan, The Marshall Frankel Foundation, and The William Randolph Hearst Foundations.

Crown Family Philanthropies logo