Nominate
Someone you know belongs in the class.
Nominations are how the field widens. Read why we ask before you fill anything in — the reasoning matters more than the form.
Why we ask
No editorial team sees a whole city. Nominations are how the archive stays honest about that.
The most interesting practices in Chicago are rarely the loudest. They surface through the people who work alongside them — the collaborator who watched a project get built, the client who saw the process, the neighbor who has followed the work for years.
So we ask you to tell us what you have seen. A nomination is not a vote, and volume does not decide anything. What moves a name forward is a specific account of the work and why it matters here.
How selection works
Nominations are community powered. Final selections are editorially curated. Every submission is read and researched; the class itself is decided by the editors in a single room, using one standard for everyone.
The Nomination
Nominations for Volume Two open August 24 and close September 1, 2026.
Nominations closed
Nominations for Volume Two have closed.
Thank you to everyone who put a name into the record. Every submission is being read and researched — and we are looking forward to presenting Vol. 2 of The Chicago Creator Class.