Best art gallery
Wrightwood 659
Second Place
Elephant Room Gallery
Third Place
Chicago Truborn
Best art group or collective
Englewood Arts Collective
Second Place
Fulton Street Collective
Third Place
PO Box Collective
Best choreographer
Dawn Xiana Moon
Second Place
Sheena Laird
Third Place
Jackie Ovassapian
Best comedian (non standup)
Kristi Durkin
Second Place
Conner Stumm
Third Place
Nikki Hartung
Best comics illustrator
Caroline Cash
Second Place
Mads Horwath
Third Place
Whitney Wasson
Best comics writer
Eve Ewing
Second Place (tie)
Mads Horwath
Caroline Cash
Best dance production
The Fly Honeys at Thalia Hall
Second Place (tie)
Queer Dance Freakout: An Interactive Dance Spectacle at Elastic Arts
The Buttcracker: A Nutcracker Burlesque at Greenhouse Theater Center
Best dance studio or training program
Hyde Park School of Dance
Second Place
Joel Hall Dancers and Center
Third Place
Newport Theater
Best dance troupe
Joffrey Ballet
Second Place
Queer Dance Freakout
Third Place
Raks Geek
Best dancer
Dawn Xiana Moon
Second Place (tie)
Kamrah Raqs
Deidre Dillon
Best drag performer
Lucy Stoole
Second Place
Irregular Girl
Third Place
Derry Queen
Best drive-in movie programming
Music Box Theatre
Second Place
ChiTown Movies
Third Place
Rock Island Public House
Best established theater company
Steppenwolf Theatre
Second Place
The Neo-Futurists
Third Place
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Best film festival
Music Box 70MM Film Festival
Second Place
Chicago International Film Festival
Third Place
Chicago Latino Film Festival
Best film programming
Music Box Theatre
Second Place
Gene Siskel Film Center
Third Place
Chicago International Film Festival
Best filmmaker
Paloma Nozicka
Second Place
Aliya Haq
Third Place
Steven Haas
Best independent book publisher
Haymarket Books
Second Place
Tortoise Books
Third Place
Meekling Press
Best lecture series
Chicago Humanities Festival
Second Place
Family Action Network
Third Place
Voices for Justice: a Social Justice Speaker Series
Best movie theater
Music Box Theatre
Second Place
Logan Theatre
Third Place
Davis Theater
Best movie theater bar
The Music Box
Second Place (tie)
Carbon Arc Bar at Davis Theater
Logan Theatre Lounge
Best mural
For My Neighbors, With Love by Ponnopozz (Adrianne Hawthorne), Ravenswood and Berteau
Runner-up: Robin Williams mural by Jerkface and Owen Dippie, 2051 N. Milwaukee
Best museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Second Place
National Museum of Mexican Art
Third Place
The Museum of Science and Industry Chicago
Best musical
SIX
Second Place
Sex and the Windy City: an Unofficial Musical Parody (iO Theater)
Third Place
Pocus Hocus: A Virgin’s Revenge (Rejected Sequel Theatre at the Den Theatre)
Best new local opera production
Fire Shut Up In My Bones (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
Second Place
FORCE! (Anna Martine Whitehead for Elevate Chicago Dance at Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center)
Third Place
Two Remain (Out of Darkness) (Chicago Fringe Opera)
Best new nonfiction book by a Chicagoan
Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. Sánchez
Second Place
When Blackness was Golden! by Pemon Rami
Third Place
Britney Spears’s Blackout (33 1/3) by Natasha Lasky
Best new novel by a Chicagoan
When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar
Second Place
Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe
Third Place
The Man Across the Alley by Emilie Barage
Best new play
1919
Second Place
The Wizards (APO Cultural Center)
Third Place
Pocus Hocus: A Virgin’s Revenge (Rejected Sequel Theatre at the Den Theatre)
Best new poetry collection by a Chicagoan
Phases of a Butterfly: The Egg by Shuntonese Richardson
Second Place
Wherever I’m At: an Anthology of Chicago Poetry edited by Donald G. Evans and Robin Metz
Third Place
The Bovine Huff by Jessie McCarty
Best new theater company
Visión Latino Theatre Company
Second Place
HATE/LAB
Third Place
Campfire Repertory Theatre
Best nonfiction writer
Mariame Kaba
Second Place
Jonathan Eig
Third Place
Cristalle Bowen
Best novelist
Rebecca Makkai
Second Place
Mia P. Manansala
Third Place
Emilie Barage
Best off-Loop theater company
The Neo-Futurists
Second Place (tie)
The Newport Theater
Hell in a Handbag
Hot Kitchen Collective
Best open mike
Schubas Open Mic
Second Place
Logan Theatre Lounge Open Mic Comedy
Third Place
Fruit Salad at the Martin
Best opera company
Lyric Opera
Second Place
Chicago Opera Theater
Third Place
Chicago Fringe Opera
Best original digital content (dance)
Uniting Voices Chicago’s Rhythm Nation
Second Place
RPM (Donnetta “Lil’ Bit” Jackson and M.A.D.D. Rhythms)
Third Place
Chicago Dance History Project
Best original digital content (theater)
The Neo-Futurists
Second Place (tie)
Playground Social
Pocus Hocus: A Virgin’s Revenge
Best performing arts festival
Silver Room Block Party
Second Place
Chicago Live!
Third Place
Rhinoceros Theater Festival
Best photographer
Sarah Elizabeth Larson
Second Place
Alicia Mayorca
Third Place
Elias Rios
Best playwright
Ricardo Gamboa
Second Place
Terry Guest
Third Place
Preston Parker and Bianca Shaw
Best poet
Eve Ewing
Second Place
Hannah McDonald
Third Place
Jessie McCarty
Best poetry organization
Young Chicago Authors
Second Place
Poetry Foundation
Third Place
The Chicago Poetry Center
Best reading series
Grandma’s House
Second Place
Tuesday Funk
Third Place
Sunday Salon
Best sketch/improv troupe
Ghost Rats
Second Place
Gag Reflex
Third Place (tie)
Riff
Smoochers
Best stage actor
Max Thomas
Second Place
Sean Parris
Third Place (tie)
Liz Falstreau
Bianca Shaw
Best stage director
Katrina Dion
Second Place
Sam Locke
Third Place
Xavier M. Custodio
Best stand-up comic
Deanna Ortiz
Second Place
Joe Eames
Third Place
Cassidy Kulhanek
Best storytelling series
The Moth
Second Place
¡Ay Cucuy!
Third Place
Story Sessions
Best street artist
Cool Disco Rich
Second Place
J.C. Rivera
Third Place
Sentrock
Best theater bar or lobby
Steppenwolf Theatre
Second Place
Chicago Magic Lounge
Third Place
The Annoyance
Best theater designer (sets, light, sound, etc.)
Sam MacNerland
Second Place
Conchita Avitia
Third Place
Karen Wallace
Best theater production
Pocus Hocus: A Virgin’s Revenge
Second Place
The Wizards
Third Place
Raks Geek
Best theater training program
The Annoyance
Second Place
CIC Theater
Third Place
Newport Theater
Best venue for dance
Harris Theater
Second Place
Auditorium Theatre
Third Place
Harold Washington Cultural Center
Best venue for improv
The Annoyance
Second Place
Second City
Third Place
Logan Square Improv
Best venue for stand-up
Laugh Factory
Second Place
Lincoln Lodge
Third Place
The Den Theatre
Best venue for theater
Steppenwolf
Second Place
Goodman Theater
Third Place
Chopin Theatre
Best venue to see drag
Berlin
Second Place
Roscoe’s Tavern
Third Place
Baton Show Lounge
Best virtual play
Party Hotline – 18 Days of Jest
Second Place
Same Time, Next Year (Act Your Page)
Third Place
The Christians (Act Your Page)
Best visual artist
Saúl Palos Rodriguez
Second Place
Chad Eckersley
Third Place
Katie Klimacek
Best zine
How To Be Sober by Whitney Wasson
Second Place (tie)
Will That New Development Benefit Your Community? by City Bureau
No Pants Revolution by Andrea Pearson
Best of Chicago 2022 is presented by
