Festival Performance at the 2017 Hyde Park Jazz Festival in Chicago.
Why We Support
In 2019, we announced a new approach to arts and culture grantmaking in the city of Chicago. The reimagined program, called Culture, Equity, and the Arts, is informed by conversations with leaders from arts organizations, artists, and creatives in nonprofit and for-profit spaces, and arts advocates and administrators. It is also shaped by MacArthur’s participation in Enrich Chicago and a Foundation-wide effort to reflect on how our decisions and actions enhance the conditions in which justice can thrive.
We provide multi-year general operating support to organizations with a primary focus on arts and culture and to organizations that are arts-centered, meaning that art is integral to executing an organization’s mission but may not be the organization’s primary goal. Awards are given to organizations whose artistic and cultural work reflects collaboration with other entities, demonstrates a commitment to fostering equity, builds relationships across communities with different perspectives, and is relevant to the issues facing Chicago.
In an effort to ensure more voices are included as part of our decision-making process, the applications are reviewed by a participatory grantmaking panel with eight to twelve members. The panel consists of community members who reflect the city’s diversity and geography. Ultimately, the panel recommends a slate of grantees and award amounts to MacArthur’s President and Board of Directors, which retain their approval authority.
Learn About Our Strategy
View Arts & Culture Loan Fund Grant Guidelines View International Connections Fund Grant Guidelines Our Strategy
We believe that the high level of cultural vitality in the Chicago region rests on a strong core of arts and culture organizations, large and small, that represent the diversity of artistic disciplines, artists within those disciplines, neighborhoods, and residents. Through this program, MacArthur provides unrestricted general operating support, directly to large organizations and through a regranting partner to mid-sized and small organizations. These resources provide flexible, reliable funding that helps organizations maintain stability, plan ahead, pursue new ideas, and invest in new artistic directions. These resources also complement targeted, capacity-building programs that strengthen the sector as a whole.
Funding Priorities
Support for Organizations with Annual Budgets of $1 Million and Above
Funding is in the form of multi-year, general operating support to Chicago-based arts and culture organizations. We make grants directly to organizations with budgets above $1 million. Grant sizes range from $55,000 to $80,000 per year, typically for three years.
In reviewing proposals, we consider the following qualities:
- Demonstrated Commitment to Fostering Equity—the organization demonstrates a commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) including how it provides access, opportunities, and resources to a range of communities.
- Collaboration—the organization actively works with external partners to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
- Connectivity—the organization uses its art and cultural practices and programming to inspire empathy, encourage individual empowerment, bridge divides between people and communities, and/or connect to other familiar or unfamiliar perspectives.
- Relevance—the organization’s creative work illuminates contemporary social inequities.
Support for Organizations with Annual Budgets up to $1 Million
Our vision for Culture, Equity, and the Arts includes multi-year general operating support for small and mid-sized organizations through a regranting partnership with the Field Foundation. This partnership is called A Road Together (ART), an initiative of the Field Foundation supported by the MacArthur Foundation, and is designed for organizations with a strong commitment to equity that is reflective and inclusive of Chicago’s diverse and historically underserved communities.
While the MacArthur Foundation makes grants directly to organizations with budgets of $1 million and above, our grantmaking partner, the Field Foundation, regrants MacArthur funds to organizations with budgets up to $1 million. Both programs award multi-year general operating grants through a participatory grantmaking process.
View ART Funding Guidelines and Application Information Evaluation for Learning
Evaluation of our work is a critical tool for informing our decision-making, leading to better results and more effective stewardship of resources. We develop customized evaluation designs for each of our programs based on the context, problem, opportunity, and approach to the work. Evaluation is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process of collecting feedback and using that information to support our grantees and adjust our strategy.
We aim to understand how the strategy contributes to a Chicago that is more equitable and where justice can thrive. Evaluations for the Arts & Culture Loan Fund Program and for the International Connections Fund have been completed.
Findings and analyses from evaluation activities are published as they become available.
Updated June 2024
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