More than two decades after helping launch a theater company to put Puerto Rican stories on Chicago stages, UrbanTheater Company (UTC) co-founder and Executive Director Ivan Vega is being recognized for his work building community through the arts.
Vega was one of eight people named recipients of the 2026 Leaders for a New Chicago Award, a joint initiative of the Field and MacArthur foundations. Each recipient received a $50,000 no-strings-attached award, while their affiliated nonprofit received a $25,000 general operating grant. More than 150 people were nominated for this year’s awards.
“It’s just been a long time coming,” Vega told Windy City Times. “It’s 21-plus years of really being a part of this organization, and we do this type of work not for recognition. We do because we love what we do, and we’re creating a service for our community.”
UrbanTheater Company got its unofficial start in 2003 as Teatro Urbano, when Vega and other Puerto Rican and BIPOC artists came together because they weren’t seeing their experiences reflected on Chicago stages.
“We … were missing hearing our stories [and] our perspective and identities were just missing in the theater landscape,” Vega said. “We said, ‘Let’s showcase ourselves. We’re actors. We’re producers. We’re singers. We’re rappers. We’re designers. Let’s come together. Let’s tell our stories, and let’s have fun.’”
That mission has also included intentional connections with Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community, Vega said. Over the years, UTC has worked with organizations including Vida/SIDA and Center on Halsted. Vega also credited co-founder Madrid St. Angelo, who was involved in the LGBTQ+ community, with helping UTC build those relationships early in its history.
Those connections continue in the company’s artistic work. Vega pointed to UTC’s work with trans Puerto Rican playwright Kidany Camilo, including her play Abuela’s Follies, as well as Gay Panic, a work developed with a group of trans artists that Vega said explores transphobia.
“This is something for us that really just comes natural because, again, we are part of this ecosystem and a lot of these organizations are part of the community,” Vega said. “So we don’t work in silos. … We help each other grow.”
The award comes as UTC is preparing for a period of growth. The company purchased a property at 2452 W. Division St. last year that it eventually plans to transform into a community performing arts center. Vega said the $25,000 grant will help support UTC’s development work as it prepares for a capital campaign.
“For so many years as a co-founder of the company, we have done a lot with nothing, little to nothing,” Vega said.
Staying in Humboldt Park was particularly important to UTC’s leaders, Vega said. The company considered other locations but ultimately wanted to invest in the neighborhood that has supported its work.
“We had to make sure that we were in the same community that has supported us, and essentially the same community where we have grown up in,” he said.
Vega said he envisions the eventual performing arts center as a resource not just for UTC but for neighborhood artists, residents and schools.
“This just shows that we are that much more invested in Humboldt Park,” Vega said. “It’s not about us. It’s about the community having access to this, and the schools being able to see what’s possible in their very own neighborhood.”
