Recap of the 2025 Resilience Fest. Video by The Local Lab.

Many thanks to our partners who made the 2025 Resilience Fest a success: City of Chicago DCASE, The Illinois Humanities, Joseph & Bessie Feinberg Foundation, Woods Fund Chicago, Challenge II Change, Chi Fresh Kitchen, Definition Theatre, Illinois Alliance for Reentry & Justice, The Local Lab, Reparations Media, Restore Justice, Revolution Brewing, Still Point Theatre Collective, UChicago Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, Walls Turned Sideways, Women’s Justice Institute, and Writers from All Sides of the Moon.

The 2025 Resilience Arts Festival was the Mud Theatre Project's premiere festival showcasing original work by system-impacted artists and writers. It was a smashing success, and we want you to be a part of bringing it back in 2026!

Last year, we were able to pay 38 artists, many of whom remain incarcerated. Producing their work for a public audience was momentous for us, the artists themselves, and their loved ones. The Resilience Arts Festival is a bridge between the inside and the outside, breaking down prison walls through the power of art and theatre.

Your sponsorship supports artists and brings live theatre and performance to system-impacted communities.

sponsor the 2026 resilience fest!

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  • "I left knowing that we need to fight more for those that are incarcerated and the ones that are at home now."

    —2025 Resilience Fest audience member

  • "I am so proud of the love and joy the festival brought to me and the community."

    —2025 Resilience Fest audience member

  • "I was so honored to be able to attend this festival and to see the beautiful art that was created by all of the participants! It was a beacon of hope and light in the midst of our current reality!"

    —2025 Resilience Fest audience member

  • "When is the next one?"

    —2025 Resilience Fest audience member

thank you to our 2025 sponsors & community partners!

city of chicago department of cultural affairs & special events

woods fund chicago

definition theatre

joseph & bessie feinberg foundation

illinois humanities

the local lab

chi fresh kitchen

walls turned sideways

challenge ii change

il alliance for reentry & justice

university of chicago center for the study of race, politics & culture

revolution brewing

still point theatre collective

women’s justice institute

reparations media

writers from all sides of the moon

The Resilience Arts Festival highlights the human experience from the perspective of people impacted by the criminal legal system, told by award-winning writers who have lived it.

Support the 2026 festival and donate today!

interested in becoming a 2026 sponsor? email gina@chicagotorturejustice.org

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