Announcing our 2024 ART Grant Recipients
November 26, 2024
CONTACT:
Maria McCandless
Director of Communications
Field Foundation of Illinois
(312) 560-0004
mmccandless@fieldfoundation.org
FIELD AND MACARTHUR FOUNDATIONS ANNOUNCE 2024 “A ROAD TOGETHER” (ART) GRANT RECIPIENTS
Fifty-one Small to Mid-Sized Arts and Culture Nonprofits Funded
through 5-year, $15 Million Partnership to Support Historically Underserved Communities
CHICAGO –The Field Foundation of Illinois and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced the 2024 “A Road Together” (ART) grant recipients. In the second year of a five-year, $15 million partnership, 51 Chicago-based arts and culture nonprofits will receive $1.6 million in ART funding; 25 organizations will receive three-year grants, and 26 organizations will receive one-year grants.
Through the ART partnership, the Field and MacArthur foundations support grant recipients in creating opportunities for more Chicagoans to dream and flourish through a vibrant, equitable, and sustainable creative ecosystem. To date, the partnership has committed $3.86 million in unrestricted, general operating funding for 131 organizations—all of which have annual budgets of less than $1 million.
“Artists call us to the public square and help our collective understanding of the world around us,” Field Foundation President Daniel O. Ash said. “Across disciplines, the ART grantees are playing this role, largely in underserved communities. We are proud to invest in them through our partnership with the MacArthur Foundation.”
The ART initiative is rooted in the belief that arts and culture organizations—including social service groups and those organizing for social change—are vital to Chicago’s identity, economy, and social fabric. The initiative supports organizations that serve historically marginalized communities, particularly on Chicago’s South and West Sides, which traditionally have faced significant roadblocks when trying to access arts resources.
A commitment to participatory grantmaking
A panel of Chicago artists and cultural leaders recommended the 2024 cohort of 25 three-year ART grant recipients using a participatory grantmaking process—evaluating 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.
“We oriented our panelists to think critically about what supporting a robust arts ecosystem looks like,” said Field’s Arts Program Officer, Richard Tran. “That meant thinking strategically about geography and creative discipline and what would also complement the portfolio from our first year of the ART program.”
The Field Foundation’s staff selected the 26 one-year ART grant recipients, using the same core principles and scoring rubric. Among this group, grants range between $10,000 and $50,000.
ART’s impact to date
The ART program supports 75 unique organizations each year. By design, beginning in 2025, all ART grants will be three-year general operating grants—with the intention of helping small to mid-sized arts and culture organizations realize their missions through more substantial, multi-year grants.
“Art has the power to connect people, create empathy, and advance a more equitable and inclusive Chicago,” said MacArthur Foundation’s Sandra Aponte, Program Officer, Chicago Commitment. “Through this $15 million investment in Chicago’s small and mid-sized arts and cultural organizations, we look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Field Foundation to support Chicago’s creative communities and address complex disparities in our city.”
In terms of impact, Tran said early findings suggest the program’s commitment to general operating funding allows organizations to pivot quickly in times of duress—with the ability to fund salaries, benefits, and infrastructure, in addition to arts programming. Additionally, organizations have noted that being recognized as an ART grant recipient has helped them attract new funding sources to support their sustainability, Tran said.
2024 ART Grant Recipients
Congratulations to all the 2024 ART grant recipients, whose work is shaping a more creative, just, and equitable Chicago.
Three-Year ART Grant Recipients
18th Street Casa de Cultura
826CHI
A Long Walk Home
American Indian Association of Illinois
American Indian Center of Chicago
Artists’ Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions Project
Chicago Artists Coalition
Chicago Dancemakers Forum
D-Composed Gives
Definition Theatre Company
Elastic Arts Foundation
Enrich Chicago
Green Star Movement
Haitian American Museum of Chicago
Hyde Park Jazz Festival
Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago
Lawndale Pop-Up Spot
Mezcla Media Collective
Muddy Waters MOJO Museum
National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial
Open Center for the Arts
Rome in a Day
The Simple Good
The WasteShed
Uprising Theater
One-Year ART Grant Recipients
2nd Story
Africa International House USA
Asian Improv aRts Midwest
Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center
Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Foundation
Collaboraction Theatre Company
Diasporal Rhythms
Equity Arts
Firebird Community Arts
Guild Literary Complex
HAIBAYO Cares
Honey Pot Performance
ILA Creative Studio
Lighthouse Foundation
NAJWA Dance Corps
National Museum of Gospel Music
Natya Dance Theatre
NON:op Open Opera Works
Pegasus Theatre Chicago
Red Clay Dance Company
Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center
South Chicago Dance Theatre
Teatro Tariakuri
The Miracle Center
Third Coast Percussion NFP
UrbanTheater Company
Learn about the 2023 ART grant recipients.
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About the Field Foundation
The Field Foundation of Illinois is a private and independent foundation that, along with its strategic partners, distributes more than $10 million annually to organizations and leaders working to address systemic issues in historically marginalized areas of Chicago. To support community power building, the Field Foundation invests in Chicago’s civic infrastructure, creative sector, local news outlets, and organizers. Learn more at www.fieldfoundation.org.
About the MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. MacArthur is placing a few big bets that truly significant progress is possible on some of the world’s most pressing social challenges, including advancing global climate solutions, decreasing nuclear risk, promoting local justice reform in the U.S., revitalizing local news, and reducing corruption in Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria. In addition to the MacArthur Fellows Program and the global 100&Change competition, the Foundation continues its historic commitments to the role of journalism in a responsive democracy as well as the vitality of our hometown, Chicago. Learn more at www.macfound.org.
