Announcing our 2023 ART Grantees
October 26, 2023
CONTACT:
Richard Tran
Arts Program Officer
Field Foundation of Illinois
(312) 831-0910 Ext. 2917
rtran@fieldfoundation.org
FIELD AND MACARTHUR FOUNDATIONS ANNOUNCE 2023 “A ROAD TOGETHER” (ART) GRANTEES
Eighty Small to Mid-Sized Arts and Culture Organizations Funded through 5-year, $15 Million Partnership to Advance Racial and Social Equity in Historically Underserved Communities
CHICAGO – The Field Foundation of Illinois, in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, today announced the 2023 “A Road Together” (ART) grantees. The inaugural group of 80 Chicago-based organizations will receive a total of $2.26 million in ART funding; 25 organizations will receive three-year grants and 55 organizations will receive one-year grants.
Working together with ART grantees, the Field and MacArthur Foundations aspire to make a sustainable impact in advancing racial and social equity by enabling more Chicagoans to dream and flourish while accessing platforms for art and cultural expression in their communities. Grantee organizations, all of which have annual budgets of less than $1 million, will receive unrestricted, general operating funds to help the organizations achieve their missions.
“The ART grantees are doing brilliant work in some of the most vulnerable and impacted areas of our city,” Field Foundation President Daniel O. Ash said. “Through the ART initiative and our partnership with the MacArthur Foundation, we have an opportunity to help these organizations achieve their goals and be more impactful in using art and creativity to serve communities and residents.”
The ART initiative is rooted in the belief that arts and culture organizations—including social service groups and those organizing for social change—play a vital role in Chicago’s identity, economy, and social fabric. The initiative prioritizes organizations with a commitment to racial equity in their programming and those that serve historically underserved communities, particularly in Chicago’s South and West Sides. These organizations have traditionally faced significant roadblocks when trying to access resources.
“‘A Road Together’” is a commitment to continuously be on a learning-to-action journey with Chicago’s creative community,” said Field’s Arts Program Officer, Richard Tran. “Together, we are imagining how a collaboration in the creative realm can enable a more equitable, diverse, and sustainable arts and culture ecosystem here in our city.”
A panel of Chicago art sector leaders recommended the cohort of 25 three-year ART grantees from more than 120 proposals using a participatory grantmaking process—ensuring representation from a wide array of creative disciplines, identities, and geographies. Grants range in size with a maximum grant of $100,000 per year. The Field Foundation’s staff selected the 55 one-year ART grantees. Among this group, grants range between $10,000 and $50,000.
“Today marks a milestone in our journey towards a more equitable city,” said MacArthur Foundation's Geoffrey Banks, Senior Program Officer, Chicago Commitment. “'ART' is a $15 million investment in Chicago's small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations with a strong commitment to equity, and we look forward to continuing to partner with the Field Foundation to support and collaborate with our vibrant, creative communities to address complex disparities in our city.”
Congratulations to all the 2023 ART grantees, whose work is shaping a more creative, just, and equitable Chicago.
Three-Year ART Grantees
Alt Space Chicago
BandWith Chicago
Black Alphabet
Chicago Art Department
eta Creative Arts Foundation
Floating Museum
Jazz Institute of Chicago
Joel Hall Dancers & Center
Kehrein Center for the Arts Foundation
Kuumba Lynnx
Live the Spirit Residency
Mandala South Asian Performing Arts
Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
Muntu Dance Theatre
Musical Arts Institute
Playmakers Laboratory Theatre
Praize Productions, Inc.
Prison + Neighborhood Arts Education Project
Silk Road Rising
South Side Community Art Center
Teatro Vista Theater with a View
TGi Movement
True Star Foundation
Water People Theater Group
Young Chicago Authors
One-Year ART Grantees
About Face Theatre Collective
Africa International House USA, Inc.
African American Arts Alliance
Aguijon Theater Company
American Indian Association of Illinois
Archi-Treasures
Arts & Business Council
Asian Improv aRts Midwest
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
Ballet Folklorico de Chicago
Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre
Chicago Artists Coalition
Chicago Dancemakers Forum
Chicago Multi-cultural Dance Center
Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Foundation
Chicago West Community Music Center
Collaboraction Theatre Company
Congo Square Theatre Company
D-Composed Gives
Definition Theatre
Diasporal Rhythms
Elastic Arts
Esprit des Concerts
Firebird Community Arts
Free Street Theater
Haitian American Museum of Chicago
Honey Pot Performance
Hyde Park Jazz Festival
ILA Creative Studio, NFP
International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago
Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago
Lawndale Pop-Up Spot
Lawyers for the Creative Arts
Lighthouse Foundation
Links Hall
LOVE UNITY & VALUES INSTITUTE
Muddy Waters MOJO Museum, Inc.
NAJWA Dance Corps
National Museum of Gospel Music
Natya Dance Theatre
OH Art Foundation
OPEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
2nd Story
Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center
Snow City Arts
Sones de Mexico Ensemble
South Chicago Dance Theatre
Teatro Tariakuri
The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago
The Simple Good
Theatre Y
Threewalls
UrbanTheater Company
West Point School of Music
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About the Field Foundation
The Field Foundation is a private and independent foundation that, along with its strategic partners, distributes more than $6.5 million in grants to organizations working to address systemic issues in Chicago’s most divested communities. With racial and social equity at the center of its giving, the Field Foundation directs dollars to grantmaking in the areas of Art, Justice, Media & Storytelling, and Leadership Investment. 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., 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.
