Richard Tran
Director of ART & Leadership Initiatives
Richard Tran is the Director of ART & Leadership Initiatives for the Field Foundation of Illinois. In this role, he oversees two key collaborations between the Field and MacArthur Foundations: the "A Road Together" (ART) initiative, and the Leaders for a New Chicago Award. A former Field Fellow, Richard now leads the Field Fellowship program, bringing his journey full circle.
Richard grew up in Uptown, right off Chicago’s Argyle Redline stop where Vietnamese migrants settled as they formed new diasporic communities.
It was at their parents’ restaurant on Argyle where preschooler Richard witnessed the most beautiful artistic social practice they could imagine—the power and prowess of community members in action, doing their best to hustle through the innumerable social and systemic ills working against them and their loved ones.
Through community-led efforts, Richard studied Visual Arts at Oberlin College with support from the Posse Foundation and completed their graduate studies at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. Richard is a former Lane Tech Ceramic Studio whiz-kid, a Marwen student alum, and a proud product of Uptown’s Multicultural Youth Project. Richard’s artwork has been featured in exhibitions and publications, and they have participated in artist residencies in New York City and Ghana.
Email:: rtran@fieldfoundation.org
