A Road Together (ART)
In partnership with the MacArthur Foundation, we support small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations that we believe are vital to Chicago’s identity, economy, and social fabric.
Arts organizations are civic infrastructure, not afterthoughts. The ART initiative proves what’s possible when we center trust and sustained investment in communities.
A Road Together (ART) is a 5-year, $15 million grantmaking partnership between the Field Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. Established in 2023, ART provides multi-year, unrestricted, general operating funding to small and mid-sized arts organizations with annual operating budgets up to $1 million. A panel of Chicago artists and cultural leaders recommend ART grant recipients
using a participatory grantmaking process. The ART initiative addresses a fragmented arts funding landscape with a trust-based approach. To date, the partnership has committed $4.81 million to 156 organizations supporting Chicago’s underserved communities, focusing on the South and West Sides.
On this Page
Supports small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations that we believe are vital to Chicago’s identity, economy, and social fabric
Provides multi-year, unrestricted, general operating funding to organizations with annual operating budgets up to $1 million
Addresses a fragmented arts funding landscape with a trust-based approach
Impact to Date
$4.81M
funding committed
156
organizations funded
ART Grant
Recipients
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 Three-Year Grant Recipients
25 organizations will receive three-year grants. Grants range in size with a maximum grant of $100,000 per year.
- 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
Application
Process
We accept annual applications for ART funding The application window for the 2026 ART initiative will open in April. Stay tuned for more details.
ART: Geographic
Priority Areas
The Field Foundation created a series of maps, outlining geographic areas where an analysis of quality-of-life factors indicates areas of greatest need.
A Road Together is a commitment to 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.
