Art

Field Foundation’s Art portfolio provides one-time grants to arts organizations and collectives doing culturally anchored, community-centered, and justice-driven work in the Chicago area. We seek proposals created with and led by artists and residents who are directly impacted by historical and systemic injustice, disinvestment, and disempowerment.

We are excited to share that in September 2022, the MacArthur Foundation announced they have made a planning grant to the Field Foundation, which will provide Field with the time and resources to stand up a new program that advances MacArthur’s Culture, Equity and the Arts program.

“We deeply value our longstanding partnership with MacArthur, and we’re excited about exploring the impact we can make together in providing grant support to small- and mid-sized arts organizations,” said Daniel O. Ash, President of the Field Foundation. “At the center of this planning work is our shared commitment to racial equity and its essential role in contributing to a vibrant arts ecosystem in Chicago.”

We look forward to sharing more details at the conclusion of the planning program in spring 2023. If you have questions, please contact us at arts@fieldfoundation.org.

In the meantime, here are the broader funding guidelines for Field’s Art portfolio.

WHAT WE FUND

We support organizations that demonstrate deep understanding and commitment to the needs, cultures, and values of the communities and neighborhoods that experience substantial racial inequity, emphasizing Chicago’s South Side, West Side, and South suburbs.

GOALS

We seek proposals focused on artist-led solutions, community care efforts, cultural advocacy, artist-led community organizing, creative jobs, operational experiments, and building capacity for homegrown organizations within their communities. This includes efforts to maintain or develop artist-run spaces, solidarity economies, community networks, and operational styles that encourage self-determination, collective leadership, autonomy, and align with community-identified needs, culture, and values.

PRIORITIES

  1. Organizations and collectives headquartered in Chicago’s South, West, Southwest, Southeast neighborhoods, and suburbs.
  2. Organizations that use collective leadership styles, cooperative models, and practice the values and strategies of solidarity economies.
  3. Organizations seeking to rethink, experiment with, or pilot new approaches to nonprofit operating and business models.
  4. Organizations seeking support for capacity building efforts and plans with a clear sketch for how those efforts will be sustained.
  5. Neighborhood-based space-making, space-keeping and amenity improvement efforts.
  6. Longterm projects that are part of larger neighborhood and community initiatives.
  7. Organizations with budgets near or under $500,000 (There are always exceptions and this does not apply to organizations acting as fiscal sponsors or fiscal agents on a proposal).
  8. Organizations, collectives, and projects have not received an Art grant from Field Foundation within the past two years.

APPLICATION PROCESS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Field does not fund:

  • K-12 arts education, in-school, after-school, and out-of-school programs, and projects.
  • Stand-alone exhibitions, plays, festivals, performances, murals, or public art projects.
  • Individual artist projects.

More information

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