1. Supporting the development of small arts organizations
2. Supporting diverse arts productions and fostering art in every community
3. Improving access to arts learning opportunities
4. Capacity building for the sector
Chicago’s arts and cultural resources enrich our quality of life, provide a magnet for cultural tourism and contribute to our economic strength. Where other industrial cities have struggled, Chicago is a broad-based, diverse, culturally vibrant place to live and work; the arts are a major factor in that success. Arts Alliance Illinois estimates that nonprofit arts organizations pump more than $1 billion into the state’s economy every year. These resources attract investment and the kind of talent that’s highly prized in the 21st century: creative people who can tackle complex problems and envision a brighter future.
The Trust believes strongly that arts offer unparalleled opportunities to engage residents and bring the community together. It is committed to enhancing access for adults, students, artists and audiences who are underserved and underrepresented, while working with colleagues to identify and fill gaps. Arts and Culture grant making also reinforces the Trust’s efforts to enhance the quality of life through cultural diversity, improved public education, economic development and civic engagement, environmental sustainability and safe, healthy communities.
Specific arts initiatives aim to provide resources to a select cohort of grantees to catalyze broader community impact and promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing that sparks innovation.
Grant making in Arts and Culture supports Community Goal #3: Promoting civic and cultural vitality.
Funding Opportunity 1: Supporting the development of small arts organizations: SMART Growth
The Trust believes that the foundation of the region’s cultural ecology is its breadth of small community-based theatres, galleries, music ensembles, dance companies and ethnic museums. These serve as fertile ground for emerging artists, anchors for fragile neighborhoods and platforms for civic discourse and ethnic identity. They are as important as the major cultural institutions in sustaining Chicago’s standing as a world-class urban center.
The Trust seeks to help small arts organizations develop the management capacity to effectively support their artistic mission, contribute to their communities, pay a living wage to their artists and employees, diversify sources of revenue and remain resilient in the face of economic shifts, the loss of a founder or changing demographics.
Outcomes Sought
- Strengthened development of 30 diverse arts organizations.
- 90% of selected participants will achieve three-year outcomes directed toward lagging management areas, ensuring stable and resilient small arts organizations that showcase the range of Chicago’s talent.
Our Funding
The SMART Growth Initiative is a three-year capacity-building program in collaboration with the Arts & Business Council of Chicago designed to ensure that small arts organizations benefit from sound management practices that effectively support their art and ensure their resilience through economic shifts, staff transitions and evolving markets. Potential grant recipients should be deeply rooted in and reflective of a community, target population or art form that is underrepresented in the cultural spectrum of the Chicago region.
For the second cohort, the Trust has already selected 31 small organizations. The Arts & Business Council of Chicago will conduct its smARTscope assessment with the Boards and staff of the selected grantees and will assist in monitoring the incremental outcomes on an annual basis. A blog has been created as a knowledge-sharing tool for SMART Growth grantees.
Requests for Proposals
The next RFP will be released in July 2013.
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Suzanne Connor, Senior Program Officer at
Arts and cultural organizations with operating budgets less than $1 million may seek grants to support capacity building from the Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development. Applications are accepted three times per year, as shown on the website.
Funding Opportunity 2: Supporting diverse arts productions and fostering art in every community
The Arts & Culture section of the GO TO 2040 Plan contains two key recommendations:
1. Ensure that all individuals, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, income, gender, religion, sexual orientation or ability, have access to the region’s cultural life and to opportunities for meaningful arts engagement.
2. Ensure that the Chicago region’s creative sector serves and represents the demographics of all the people who live and work in the region.
During a four-year collaboration with the Wallace Foundation, the Trust explored the challenges to achieving arts participation and audience diversification that confront nonprofit arts and culture institutions everywhere. Local studies show that participation in Chicago’s largest arts and cultural organizations is highest in predominantly white, high-income areas. Socioeconomic factors are more relevant predictors of arts participation than ethnicity; however, for more traditional institutions, ethnicity is still a key predictor for participation. Ethnic, diverse and small organizations successfully reach different audiences than do major institutions.
Out of this work has come the realization that broadening audiences and expanding access depend less on ceaseless and creative marketing than on the relevance and authenticity of the artistic product, as well as its accessibility. Artistic collaborations have demonstrated the most measurable success by creating productions that resonate with a broader audience. The Trust has funded a series of sessions on how to structure and nurture such collaborations, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
Outcomes Sought
- Productions showcase and strengthen diversity.
- Increased art available in neighborhood venues.
- Broader and more inclusive participation across all market segments: age, income, ethnicity, disability and geography.
- Diverse collaborations that lead to artistic innovation.
Our Funding
Artistic and Cultural Diversity Initiative: Arts organizations and/or presenting venues of all sizes should submit a Letter of Inquiry individually or in collaboration for support for projects that aim to achieve the following goals:
- Showcase the talents of culturally specific artists.
- Perform/exhibit/conduct programs in venues that are located in areas of Cook County that are culturally underserved.
- Perform/exhibit/conduct programs in public venues (such as libraries, parks, community colleges) located in areas of Cook County that are culturally underserved.
- Plan and implement projects with meaningful involvement by leaders/collaborators from the target community or audience.
- Ensure affordability and accessibility for the target community or audience.
- Include an effective means of tracking market penetration and participant response.
- Include well-defined strategies for building on or sustaining the collaboration, cross-promotion or presence within the target market or community.
- Increase the Trust’s visibility within the target community.
Collaborators are encouraged to work together to submit complementary proposals requesting separate grants to support the clearly defined role of each partner. This grant making area is a competitive process that will select projects/productions by different organizations each year; it is not designed to support the same organization for multiple consecutive years.
Artistic and Cultural Diversity is now accepting Letters of Inquiry (LOI). This grant program will use a two-step application process. Applicants should visit our online system to complete a Letter of Inquiry; projects will be selected from among these LOIs to submit a complete proposal. Find full details and begin your application
All applicants for Artistic and Cultural Diversity Grants are invited to an information session on February 14, 2012 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at The Chicago Community Trust offices. To attend, please RSVP to Karen Mensch at
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Suzanne Connor, Senior Program Officer at
Looks Like Chicago Initiative: The Trust envisions a regional cultural landscape that reflects the racial/ethnic make-up of its residents on its boards, staff, stages and among its audiences/patrons. Data suggests that progress toward this goal varies by genre, with classical “high” and “fine” arts lagging significantly behind media, informal and commercial arts. A request for proposal seeks demonstration projects that address this issue, based upon the following criteria:
- Demonstrated, sustainable commitment to achieving diversity at the board, executive staff and/or artistic leadership level.
- Meaningful inclusion of “first-voice perspective.”
- Ability and willingness to serve as a research subject, case study, role model and/or convener.
Only one or two grants per year will be awarded.
Requests for Proposals will be released on March 15 and are due on May 1.
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Suzanne Connor, Senior Program Officer at
Funding Opportunity 3: Improving access to arts learning opportunities
Arts learning grants seek to provide measurable benefits to students that have inequitable access to these essential opportunities. Elementary-age children can seldom advocate on their own behalf or vote with their feet if the programs provided are mediocre. High school students, by contrast, are quick to vote with their feet if activities are not engaging—and often pursue less constructive alternatives.
Many studies document the impact of music, visual, dance and literary/theater instruction on student outcomes, both academic and in social and emotional areas. However, factors such as insufficient funding, short school day/year, inadequate training for teachers and lack of instruments or equipment limit students’ access to these proven benefits, especially those attending under-resourced public schools. A survey of current arts education shows that low-income, low-performing high school students have less access to arts programs for a range of reasons. Low-performing students must take remedial classes rather than arts electives. Many CPS high schools cannot afford security for regular after-school programs, and students who have been suspended or truant cannot attend such programs. At the same time, outside resources are dwindling. Publicly-funded programs have experienced significant cuts and available slots are often quickly claimed by the most motivated students. Students in under-resourced communities need engaging, rigorous, challenging programs with appropriately trained arts instructors, supplies and equipment.
Chicago has almost 200 cultural organizations, large and small, from every artistic discipline that serve as “arts partners,” filling gaps by working in the classroom and during out-of-school time. Understandably, coordination, capacity and competence are the most challenging aspects of this approach.
The Trust has supported the development of the CPS Guide for Teaching and Learning in the Arts and sector-specific convenings to organize each discipline around its implementation. This Guide serves as the unifying set of standards and templates for Trust grant making in the field of Arts Learning.
Outcomes Sought
Arts opportunities for underserved children will be increased and strengthened. The common framework and language provided by the CPS Guide will be effectively utilized to align the work being done by arts partners with the work of certified CPS art teachers, classroom teachers and other arts partners to provide the following benefits to children:
- Improved coherence and sequencing from grade-to-grade (or level-to-level) within a specific discipline.
- Expose every child to the fundamentals of all four artistic disciplines through the course of their elementary years.
- Stronger continuity between exposure in the classroom and deeper participation through out-of-school programs.
- More intentional and effective integration of arts into classroom activities to achieve specifically defined learning outcomes.
- Greater ability for all teaching artists to articulate and assess learning outcomes using the language of the Guide, which is accepted by CPS and shared with other providers.
Our Funding
The Trust, through both its Arts and Education staffs, will continue to play an active leadership role in collaborative efforts to support systemic change (including extending the school day and providing more certified art teachers in CPS) along with data collection to track progress. These are long-term goals that will require steady advocacy and monitoring.
Simultaneously, the Trust is leading the effort to improve the effectiveness of nonprofit arts partners serving students with the most limited access to arts. Trust initiatives are designed to build the capacity of nonprofit arts learning providers, thereby enhancing their effectiveness in achieving 5 fundamental goals: nurturing future artists; building audiences; introducing and reinforcing the arts as a pathway to college and careers; fostering essential social and emotional learning, critical thinking and problem-solving skills; and promoting civic engagement by young people.
Enhancing Access to Arts Learning: This RFP was released on November 15 and proposals were due by January 5.
Advancing Arts Partners: This RFP was released on November 15 and proposals were due by January 5.
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Suzanne Connor, Senior Program Officer at
Arts Infusion Initiative for High-Risk Teens: Launched in 2010 as a result of the ARRA partnership (PDF), the Arts Infusion Initiative currently consists of 15 grant recipients working in high-risk settings with teens who have had encounters with the criminal justice system, experienced school disciplinary action and reside in the federally-designated Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative (CAGI) communities. Grant recipients use resources related to the CPS Guide for Teaching and Learning in the Arts and stress social/emotional learning skills associated with conflict resolution. Knowledge-sharing occurs through the Arts Infusion Initiative blog and monthly professional development sessions. Expertise is provided by the CPS Office of Arts Education and the Loyola University College of Fine and Performing Arts.
Proposals will be solicited directly from specific organizations in November. There will be no RFP process in the Arts Infusion Initiative.
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Suzanne Connor, Senior Program Officer at
College Pathways Initiative: For promising arts students—unlike the energetic recruitment of talented high school athletes—most neighborhood high schools do not foster connections to advanced opportunities for careers in the arts.
Proposals in this area should provide structured opportunities for students, primarily from disadvantaged backgrounds, to explore advanced performance experience and training that will expose them to post-secondary options. The long-term goal is to build these programs in every artistic discipline for students from neighborhood CPS high schools.
Requests for Proposals will be released on November 15 and are due on January 5.
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Suzanne Connor, Senior Program Officer at
Funding Opportunity 4: Capacity building for the sector
Arts service organizations serving as resources to Trust initiatives, such as SMART Growth, Arts Learning, cultural research, advocacy and diversity efforts, can apply for funding under this area. Specific Requests for Proposals will provide more detailed information.
Requests for Proposals
Building diverse cultural leadership: RFPs will be released on July 15 and are due on September 1.
Measuring cultural vitality: RFPs will be released on July 15 and are due on September 1.
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Suzanne Connor, Senior Program Officer at
Arts and cultural organizations with operating budgets less than $1 million may seek grants to support capacity building from the Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development. Applications are accepted three times per year, as shown on the website.
