Three-Year, $1.5 Million Partnership for Creative Placemaking and Placekeeping

Starting in 2025, Elevated Chicago will receive from MacArthur $1.5 million over three years to serve as a technical advisor and regranting partner for local community initiatives. This partnership supports efforts to use arts and cultural installations, creative placemaking, and placekeeping techniques to stimulate economic activity and preserve community culture along key transit corridors throughout Chicago. 

Elevated Chicago, housed at the Chicago Community Trust, is a multi-sector collaborative focused on advancing equitable transit-oriented development and building vibrant, walkable communities near public transit. This partnership aligns with our Vital Communities goal to advance equity by using arts and cultural strategies to spur spatial, community, and economic development in Chicago neighborhoods.

With this award, Elevated Chicago will regrant funds to projects across Chicago neighborhoods led by entrepreneurs, small businesses, artists, and unincorporated collectives. In its first year, the collaborative anticipates awarding $350,000 in grants, with the first round of funding expected in the final quarter of 2025. 

Pictured above is the Arts Lawn, a project of University of Chicago's Arts + Public Life, supported by Elevated Chicago. Credit: On the Real