Funding Sustainability in Chicago’s Art Sector
Click HERE to access the report “Funding Equity: Crisis to Sustainability” released in July 2024, which also includes recommendations gathered from our convening in April. The report was presented by Julie Koo and Madeline Carey of TDC accompanied by guest Jason Matsumoto of Full Spectrum Features.
Click HERE to view the recording of the presentation of the report.
Funding Equity Steering Committee:
JC Aevaliotis, Polk Bros. Foundation
Sandra Aponte, MacArthur Foundation
Carlos Bossard, Haitian American Museum of Chicago
Aurora Toshiko King, Free Spirit Media
Meida McNeal, Honey Pot Performance
Nina Sanchez, Enrich Chicago
J. Gibran Villalobos, Institute of Museum and Library Services
Ellen Wadey, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
Brad White, Driehaus Foundation
Survey Design Committee
Carlos Bossard, Haitian American Museum of Chicago
Cate Fox, The Center for Cultural Innovation
Meida McNeal, Honey Pot Performance
Aurora Toshiko King, Free Spirit Media
Pepe Vargas, International Latino Cultural Center
Report Review Committee
Constanza Mendoza, Terra Cotta Creative Strategies
Margaret Murphy-Webb, South Side Jazz Coalition
Karla Estela Rivera, BIPOC Arts Leader
More about the study:
Funding Equity follows Enrich Chicago’s 2018 study, A Portrait of Inequity, which illustrated that Chicago arts funding was not fully inclusive of BIPOC arts organizations.
Funding Equity shows that the picture has changed since A Portrait of Inequity. In 2020-2023, the scale and nature of BIPOC arts organizations’ presence in the foundation funding pool was strikingly different from 2013-2015.Additionally, it includes a new framework for understanding how foundation practices can be supportive of BIPOC arts organizations.
With a multidisciplinary approach, TDC, along with our community partners and steering committee have constructed an incredibly robust and cohesive report that is sure to be a valuable resource to all of us within Chicago’s Arts and Culture Sector.
Click HERE to access the report, “A Portrait of Inequity”
More about the study:
One method Enrich Chicago uses to advance equitable access to resources and funding opportunities for BIPOC arts organizations is field research that leads to recommendations to change funding practices. This work began when, in 2018, Enrich Chicago published the results of its first study examining the state of arts funding and the equitability of its distribution in Chicago in a report titled A Portrait of Inequity.
On April 16th, we held an event to have our community hear about our most recent funding equity project. Our research Consultants at TDC shared a presentation with us, telling us of their learnings stemming from an examination of Chicagoland foundations during 2020-2023.
Accompanying the presentation, we held a community conversation regarding tangible recommendations for supporting the long-term sustainability of BIPOC arts organizations. This was an incredibly fruitful conversation of folks from across our sector, with foundations as well as smaller and larger organizations all working together to grapple with the funding ecosystem here in Chicago
