Marwen offers free visual arts classes to under-served Chicago youth in 6 - 12 grades.  Marwen also provides free college and career counseling to high school students and their families who are interested in pursuing a career in the visual arts or wish to continue their education beyond high school.

​Hyde Park Arts Center In addition to hosting world-class exhibitions, HPAC offers tuition-free opportunities for South Side youth through events and programs such as the Youth Arts Board, Art Shop, Photo Studio, Plug in Studio and more. HPAC also offers youth art classes, which can be very accommodating with fees for CPS students.

After School Matters is a non-profit organization that provides after school and summer program opportunities to over 15,000 Chicago high school students each year. Programs are free and many will provide students with a stipend for material costs or transportation.

University of Chicago's Arts + Public Life Youth Program cultivates teens' creativity, social development, and leadership, while inspiring them to make a positive difference in their community through the arts. Teens work alongside professionals to develop original work using real-world processes. All program areas—whether design/build, arts/culture administration, or performance—have a community stewardship and civic engagement focus. Programs include the Design Apprenticeship Program, Community Actors Program, and the Teen Arts Council. All programs are free, and participants are eligible to earn a monetary award. Especially engaged teens have also been hired as interns, teaching assistants, and more.

Early College Program (run by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) provides high school students with the necessary creative freedom to develop a sustained, structured dialogue between ideas and process. Mirroring the methods and practices of the contemporary artists and designers, students choose courses within focused disciplines, yet retain opportunities to freely explore across media in order to build strong skills and a portfolio that reflects their personal interests. Students can apply for financial assistance via the ECP Chicago Youth Artist Educational Fund, a needs-based merit scholarship to deserving students from Chicago Public High Schools.

​Walgreens Expressions Challenge  is a peer-to-peer based health awareness initiative for high school teens. At the core of the Expressions Challenge is an incentive based contest for teens to showcase their creative perspective on healthy lifestyle choices. The Challenge motivates participants to voice their opinion on critical life issues they face daily through creative writing, visual arts and media arts. In addition to the Challenge, the Expressions Challenge hosts annual programs including Gallery Tours and Teen Summits

All-City Arts Exhibition is a juried exhibition of Chicago Public Schools student work. Winners have their work exhibited in a gallery space in the heart of downtown Chicago, visible from the street for thousands of residents and tourists to see. Dozens of colleges offer scholarships to All-City winners each year as well.

MSI Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition Competition  For 50 years, the Museum of Science and Industry has hosted the nation’s premier exhibition of African American art. The Juried Art Exhibition is a pillar of the Museum’s Black Creativity program, which showcases African American achievement in a variety of scientific, artistic, and technological fields. Each year, the Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition presents more than 100 works of art from professional and emerging Black artists from throughout the U.S.

The ArtConnected (formerly IHSAE) Northern Exhibition is one of Illinois’ largest and most influential student art exhibitions. This truly unique show celebrates artistic achievement and provides talented young artists with opportunities to showcase their artwork and compete at a state level. Student artwork will be judged by category and prizes will be awarded for the top entries in each of the 8 categories: Drawing, Painting, Photography, Design, Mixed Media, Ceramics, Sculpture, and also Time Arts. The event is also paired with a Senior Scholarship exhibition as well.

CAAP at SAIC  is a three-year college bridge program for students dedicated to studying art and design. CAAP prepares CPS high schoolers with the skills and preparation needed for success at SAIC or any post-secondary institution. Students accepted into CAAP complete SAIC's Early College Program courses and program tuition, art supplies, transportation, and meal costs are covered. CAAP students who apply and are accepted into SAIC's undergraduate program are eligible for special scholarships and campus jobs.

ECP at ArtConnectEd is partof the Northern Illinois Regional Art Exhibition, we are now offering each registered school the opportunity to have its most promising students to submit an Early College Program portfolio to be considered for scholarships by our college and university partners. These programs, offered by many collegiate programs, offer a fantastic and unique opportunity to underclass high school students that cannot be had anywhere else. Teachers and parents often tell us that students who attend these programs come back with much more artistic vision and maturity than they had when they first left for the summer!