Free Spirit Media transforms media and society by providing opportunities for emerging creators, primarily from communities of color, to produce and distribute original content and to pursue artistic, personal and professional aspirations.
Free Spirit Media provides teens and young adults on Chicago’s West and South sides with a comprehensive foundation in media literacy and hands-on media production. Free Spirit Media runs in-school arts education, after-school and summer digital media programs, advanced creative workforce development programs, and social enterprise professional production services.
Producing nearly 1,000 compelling media pieces each year, Free Spirit Media participants use the documentaries, sports broadcasts, news packages, audio stories, PSAs, and narrative films they create as a means of developing their own authentic voice while actively participating in their community’s growth and civic discourse.
SCE initially funded Free Spirit Media through the 2017 Digital Learning Challenge. We offered the organization a second grant to support their 2020 planning process.
