Community Partners & Affiliates

Voices of Lake County partners with the below organizations, who offer their support and resources for our community workshops, events, and performances. We are grateful for their continuous generosity and support.

Brushwood Center – Riverwoods, IL

Brushwood Center works collaboratively with community partners, artists, health care providers, and scientists to improve health equity and access to nature in Lake County, Illinois, and the Chicago region. Brushwood Center engages people with the outdoors through the arts, environmental education, and community action. Brushwood Center’s programs focus on youth, families, military veterans, and those facing racial and economic injustices. Learn more about Brushwood Center and its initiatives and events.

College of Lake County Sustainability Council

The College of Lake County Sustainability Council supports the implementation, achievement, and maintenance of sustainability initiatives on its campuses, in the curriculum, and across the community, as set forth in the college's Strategic Plan and Sustainability Plan. CLC borrows the definition of sustainability from the 1987 U.N. Brundtland Commission: to "meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (1987). Sustainability enhances CLC's mission to "equitable high quality education, cultural enrichment and partnerships to advance the diverse communities it serves."

Grayslake Arts Alliance Writers' Group – Grayslake, IL

The Grayslake Arts Alliance Writers' Group gathers every third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the Grayslake Heritage Center and Museum (164 Hawley St., Grayslake, IL 60030). Share your work in progress with a supportive group of local writers. All genres and levels of experience are welcome to attend. Learn more about the Grayslake Arts Alliance.

Grayslake Performing Arts Collaborative

The Grayslake Performing Arts Collaborative is a group of individuals who are passionate about and dedicated to providing collaborative performing arts experiences for youth and adults in the Grayslake area. Serving Grayslake, Gages Lake, Wildwood, Third Lake and Hainesville.

James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts – Grayslake, IL

The James Lumber Center is a state-of-the-art facility ideal for showcasing the power and value of the performing arts in Lake County. The Center features three performance spaces to accommodate professional touring events and concerts, as well as college music, dance and theatre department performances and productions. View the Calendar of Events for the James Lumber Center.

Lake County Film Festival

Founded in 2004, The Lake County Film Festival is a multi-venue, multi-weekend Film Festival located in Lake County, IL. The bulk of the festival takes place at the College Of Lake County in Grayslake, IL, but we also have screenings at the Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest, IL, and have had events at over a dozen other locations over the decades. Lake County, IL has a population of over 700,000, and they are desperately underserved in the area of independent cinema. The LCFF remains the only multi-year film festival in the area. The festival prides itself on providing a platform for a diverse group of filmmakers. From sex to race to genre: the Lake County Film Festival has stories for everybody. We strive for gender parity in our slate, and we crave more work from diverse voices. To learn more, visit the Lake County Film Festival website.

Lake Villa Library

Lake Villa District Library serves Lake Villa Township, including the communities of Lake Villa, Lindenhurst, portions of Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights and Antioch. The population served is approximately 40,000. Learn about the history of Lake Villa District Library.

OASIS (College of Lake County Student Organization)

OASIS stands for "Organization for Action, Sustainability, and Innovation for Students." It is a student organization at College of Lake County for students interested in sustainability and environmentalism. Follow OASIS on Instagram.

Performing Arts Community Engagement (PACE) – College of Lake County

CLC's PACE program creates opportunities for cultural, social, and historical expression and preservation through community engagement in the performing arts activities. The program provides College of Lake County performing arts students with opportunities for real world experience within the community while cultivating mentorship relationships with working performing artists, and aims to broaden and strengthen existing partnerships between the College of Lake County Communication Arts, Humanities, and Fine Arts Division and the Waukegan art community. Follow PACE on Instagram to learn about upcoming events.

Three Brothers Theatre – Waukegan, IL

Three Brothers Theatre is a community theatre located in downtown Waukegan, Illinois. At the heart of the organization is the belief that theatres should be driven by artists. Three Brothers does this by striving to be a place of opportunity, a place where artists can experiment with their craft, and a place that serves as an artistic home for the many artists under its roof. The Brothers is driven by an incredible company of actors, directors, designers, and more. Learn about upcoming shows.

Visual Arts Community Engagement – College of Lake County

CLC's Community Art Engagement & Outreach workshops are part of an arts-integrated community outreach program through the Communication Arts, Humanities and Fine Arts Division.  Our outreach efforts include four E.A.S.E. workshops, four A.T.A. workshops, several rotating small exhibits at Lakeshore Campus, and a large art exhibit at the Robert Wright Gallery at Grayslake Campus in May, which all are invited to participate in. Free art kits encourage attendees to continue creating and connect to CLC and Waukegan's art community through art, social media, and hashtags. Workshops emphasize creativity, process, and expression over perfection. Learn more about EASE.

Waukegan Arts Council

It is the mission of the Waukegan Arts Council to recognize, support and promote artists and artistic expression that reflect the diverse experiences, traditions, and perspectives that make our city such a rich and dynamic place to live, work, and create. As an organization, we are committed to ensuring that all communities, groups, and individuals in Waukegan have opportunities to engage and actively participate in the transformative power of the arts. We believe that Waukegan thrives when the diverse voices of its creative communities are recognized, valued, celebrated, and brought together through collegiality, fellowship, and dialogue. To learn more, visit the Waukegan Arts Council website.

Waukegan Public Library

The Waukegan Public Library has a long history of distinguished service in Waukegan. The library as we know it today was preceded by several operating systems, the first being the Little Fort Reading Room and Library Association, founded on November 24, 1845. Each member paid twenty-five cents per quarter support fee. Along with this fee, members were able to place a book into the library for others to check out.Waukegan’s current library building is located at County and Clayton Streets and is part of a governmental complex including both municipal and county buildings. It was designed by William Ganster of the Waukegan architecture firm of Ganster and Henninghausen. The library opened for service on December 27, 1965 and was dedicated on April 19, 1966. The Library’s 2015 renovation completely transformed the main floor into a learning-focused library space ready to meet the needs of its patrons by creating spaces for collaboration and quiet study and increasing the number of classrooms. The library hosted a free community writing workshop in spring 2023.

Zion-Benton Writers' Guild – Zion, IL

The Zion-Benton Writers' Guild is passionate about writing and improving ourselves as writers. Come and join us at the Zion-Benton Public Library every first and third Saturday. Follow the Zion-Benton Writers' Guild on Facebook.