Best art gallery
Co-Prosperity Sphere
Runner-up: Chicago Truborn
Best art group or collective
Englewood Arts Collective
Runner-up: Project Onward
Best choreographer
Star Dixon
Runner-up: Stephanie Martinez
Best comedian (non standup)
Maggie Winters
Runner-up: Alex Collyard
Best comics illustrator
Keith J. Taylor
Runner-up: Chris Ware
Best comics writer
Chris Ware
Runner-up: Megan Kirby
Best dance production
Fly Honey Show’s DIY Fly
Runner-up: Hubbard Street Dance’s RE/TURN at Harris Theater
Best dance studio or training program
Hyde Park School of Dance
Runner-up: Giordano Dance Chicago
Best dance troupe
Fly Honeys
Runner-up: Joffrey Ballet
Best dancer
Donnetta “LilBit” Jackson
Runner-up: Dawn Xiana Moon
Best drag performer
Lucy Stoole
Runner-up: Derry Queen
Best drive-in movie programming
Music Box of Horrors: Dawn of the Drive-In at ChiTown Movies
Runner-up: ChiTown Movies
Best established theater company
Steppenwolf Theatre
Runner-up: The Neo-Futurists
Best film festival
Chicago International Film Festival
Runner-up: Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival
Best film programming
Music Box Theatre
Runner-up: Gene Siskel Film Center
Best filmmaker
Elias Rios
Runner-up: Jennifer Reeder
Best independent book publisher
Haymarket Books
Runner-up: The University of Chicago Press
Best lecture series
Chicago Humanities Festival
Runners-up: Great Cities Institute at UIC, VOICES at UIC’s Gallery 400
Best movie theater
Special award for most votes of any winner in any category
Music Box Theatre
Runner-up: Logan Theatre
Best movie theater bar
The Music Box
Runner-up: The Logan Theater
Best mural
Robin Williams mural at 2047 N. Milwaukee (Concord Music Hall) by Jerkface and Owen Dippie
Runner-up: Dolly Parton mural at Lytle House (5517 N. Broadway) by Michelle Lytle
Best museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Runner-up: National Museum of Mexican Art
Best musical
American Mariachi (Goodman)
Runner-up: Sister Act at Mercury Theater
Best new local opera production
The Magic Flute (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
Runner-up: Macbeth (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
Best new nonfiction book by a Chicagoan
Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by Dawn Turner
Runner-up: U2’s The Joshua Tree: Planting Roots in Mythic America by Bradley Morgan
Best new novel by a Chicagoan
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Runner-up: This Little Life of Mine by Shakia Jackson
Best new play
When Harry Met Rehab
Runner-up: Where the Air Meets the Water
Best new poetry collection by a Chicagoan
And She Worthy by Kwyn Townsend Riley
Runner-up: There Are Trans People Here by H. Melt
Best new theater company
Stepping Stone Theater Chicago
Runner-up: Cabinet of Curiosity
Best nonfiction writer
Eve Ewing
Runner-up: Alex Kotlowitz
Best novelist
Rebecca Makkai
Runner-up: Kathleen Rooney
Best off-Loop theater company
The Neo-Futurists
Runners-up: Porchlight Music Theatre, Raven Theatre
Best open mike
The Open Stage at Annoyance Theatre
Runner-up: Cole’s Bar
Best opera company
Lyric Opera
Runner-up: Chicago Opera Theater
Best original digital content (dance)
M.A.D.D. Rhythms (Aisha by Star Dixon)
Runner-up: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Half of Us)
Best original digital content (theater)
The Infinite Wrench Goes Viral (Neo-Futurists)
Runner-up: ComedySportz Chicago
Best performing arts festival
Ravinia Festival
Runner-up: Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
Best photographer
Barry Butler
Runner-up: The Kid From Pilsen (William Guerrero)
Best playwright
Tracy Letts
Runner-up: Kristiana Rae Colón
Best poet
Eve Ewing
Runner-up: Hannah McDonald
Best poetry organization (tie)
Poetry Foundation
Kuumba Lynx
Runners-up: Chicago Poetry Center
Best reading series
Read Some Shit Chicago
Runner-up: Grandma’s House
Best sketch/improv troupe
Late Night Shenanigans
Runner-up: Devil’s Daughter
Best stage actor
Carrie Coon
Runner-up: Ana Silva
Best stage director
Madison Smith
Runners-up: Ron OJ Parson, Barbara Zahora
Best stand-up comic
Eliana La Casa
Runner-up: Luca Ferro
Best storytelling series
The Moth
Runner-up: Grown Folks Stories
Best street artist
JC Rivera
Runner-up: Sentrock
Best theater bar or lobby
Steppenwolf Theatre
Runner-up: The Annoyance
Best theater designer (sets, light, sound, etc.)
Sydney Lynne
Runner-up: Sam MacNerland
Best theater production
Bug
Runner-up: Hot Clown Sex
Best theater training program
Second City
Runner-up: The Annoyance
Best venue for dance
Harris Theater
Runner-up: Auditorium Theatre
Best venue for improv
Second City
Runner-up: Annoyance Theatre
Best venue for stand-up
The Hideout
Runner-up: The Annoyance
Best venue for theater
Steppenwolf
Runner-up: Goodman Theatre
Best venue to see drag
Berlin
Runner-up: Baton Show Lounge
Best virtual play
Queen Lear (Quarantine Queens)
Runner-up: Pride & Prejudice, Pride & Prejudice Productions
Best visual artist
Kerry James Marshall
Runner-up: Keith J. Taylor
Best zine
Word Brothel
Runner-up: Acid Nun (Corinne Halbert)
Refer to the closed final ballot to see all the categories and finalists that were voted on.