Announcing our 2025 ART Grants
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2025 “A Road Together” (ART) grants! Through this initiative, 25 small to mid-sized arts organizations will receive $2.85 million in general operating grants over three years. As a five-year, $15 million partnership between the Field Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, the ART initiative is rooted in the belief that small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations – including social service groups and community organizers – are vital to Chicago's identity, economy, and social fabric.
2025 ART COHORT
About Face Theatre Company
Africa International House USA, Inc.
Aguijón Theater Company
Architreasures
Ballet Folklorico de Chicago
Changing Worlds
Chicago Blues Revival
Chicago Mobile Makers
Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center
Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Foundation
Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange
Cultural Access Collaborative
Design Museum of Chicago
Folded Map Project
FreshLens Chicago
High Concept Labs
ILA Creative Studio
Intonation Music
Kalapriya Foundation, Center for the Indian Performing Arts
Making a Difference Dancing (M.A.D.D.) Rhythms Organization
Pegasus Theatre Chicago
Territory
The Era Footwork Collective
UrbanTheater Company
Walls Turned Sideways
“A Road Together is a commitment to continuously be on a learning-to-action journey with Chicago’s creative community. Together, we are reimagining how a collaboration in the creative realm can enable a stronger and more sustainable arts and culture
ecosystem in our city.”
Richard Tran
Field Foundation
Director of ART & Leadership Initiatives
About the ART Initiative
Since the ART initiative’s launch in 2023, the Field Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation have awarded unrestricted, general operating funding to 156 nonprofits – all of which have annual budgets of less than $1 million and operate largely in traditionally underserved communities – with an emphasis on Chicago’s South and West Sides – which traditionally have faced significant roadblocks when trying to access arts resources.
2025 is a milestone year for the ART initiative, which offered both three-year and one-year grants in its first two years. In 2025, all ART grants provide three years of funding, fulfilling the initiative’s vision of providing substantial, multi-year support to help small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations realize their missions.
A commitment to participatory grantmaking
A panel of Chicago artists and cultural leaders recommended the 2025 cohort of ART grant recipients using a participatory grantmaking process. The panelists reviewed nearly 120 proposals and evaluated organizations on criteria including community engagement, relevance, impact, and alignment with the Field Foundation’s mission to support community power building. Grants range between $25,000 and $100,000 per year over three years.
The impact of ART
Comprised of three, 25-organization cohorts (2023, 2024, 2025) receiving three-year general operating funding, the ART initiative supports 75 unique organizations annually. This approach is especially significant as the arts sector faces continued challenges, including rising operating costs and declining funding at federal, state, and local levels.
The ART initiative demonstrates the transformative impact of general operating funding. Organizations have reported that ART dollars act as a “release valve” to fund salaries, pay artists, and cover core infrastructure costs—essential expenses that are often unfunded through traditional restricted grants.
2026 ART grant cycle
The ART application portal will re-open in spring of 2026.