Chicago Commitment

Culture, Equity, and the Arts

We provide grants to arts and culture organizations across the city. We also support arts-centered organizations, meaning that art is integral to executing its mission but may not be the organization’s primary goal. A vibrant creative sector helps individuals explore their passions, develop their identity and potential, confront challenging topics, and connect with one another.

More about Culture, Equity, and the Arts

Civic Partnerships

Chicago’s civic landscape is notable for its broad network of philanthropic, corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations, and its rich history of collaboration between these entities to achieve shared goals. Civic partnerships build upon the collective assets of leaders and organizations for greater impact.

MacArthur works in close collaboration with our partners to address timely and unique opportunities, including the decennial census; the establishment of a Chicago Public Library Branch at the Obama Presidential Center; and the acquisition of the historic Ebony and Jet photographic archives. Civic Partnerships also help solve problems, such as gun violence, that community members want to address by pursuing the solutions that they endorse.

More about Civic Partnerships

Vital Communities

We believe that a resilient and dynamic metropolitan area is dependent upon equitable development. The Vital Communities work stimulates development in neighborhoods by making early investments in response to community needs that contribute to economic growth.

We support place-based economic development and creative placemaking and placekeeping initiatives to improve the quality of life for individuals in neighborhoods that have experienced disinvestment. We also support organizations whose research and analysis informs socially beneficial and equitable development. 

Our place-based funding is concentrated in ten neighborhoods on the South and West Sides. By investing in a small number of communities, we are able to work in partnership with organizations, pursue greater cohesion across approaches to advance equity, and strengthen the capacity of organizations working in the city.

More About Vital Communities

View Vital Communities Grant Guidelines

Advancing Leadership

Our goal is to promote and advance thriving leaders to inform and improve decision making across the city.

We support leadership advancement within the other three focus areas described above: Culture, Equity, and the Arts; Vital Communities; and Civic Partnerships. Within these areas, we seek to advance equity by expanding access to a wide range of leadership opportunities and by fostering conditions that recognize and support people who bring a wide array of experiences and perspectives to leadership positions.

More About Advancing Leadership

More on our Approach to Participatory Grantmaking

Culture, Equity, and the Arts: Accepting the Invitation to Change

A Work in Progress: Participatory Grantmaking in the Arts

Listening to and Seeking Guidance from Local Advisors

Co-Creating our Equitable Recovery Grantmaking

Sharing and Shifting Power: Lessons from Participatory Grantmaking

Building a More Equitable Arts Ecosystem from the Ground Up

Five-Year, $15 Million Partnership for Equitable Arts

Participatory Grantmaking for the Arts, Six Years On

In the long run, the Chicago Commitment will demonstrate the following outcomes through each of our three areas of grantmaking:

Culture, Equity, and the Arts

We expect Culture, Equity, and the Arts programming to result in:

• Increased inclusive and culturally relevant arts experiences that reflect Chicago’s diverse communities and that present a variety of perspectives;
• Increased arts experiences that connect people across neighborhoods, ages, diverse backgrounds, and other social boundaries; and
• More Chicago-based arts and cultural organizations that demonstrate equitable and inclusive approaches and values.

Civic Partnerships

We expect Civic Partnership programming to result in:

• More grantees, community leaders, civic organizations, and funders working in coordination to address urgent and timely issues;
• Increased learning within partnerships about the issues they address and potential solutions;
• Combined resources and assets that create a sustainable infrastructure to address urgent issues; and
• A model for civic partnerships that can be adapted and replicated elsewhere.

Vital Communities

We expect Vital Communities programming to result in:

• Increased interest in, and more resources and capital for, new development in targeted areas;
• Expanded networks across organizations, sectors, and leaders to influence community and economic development; and
• MacArthur-supported projects that reflect communities’ stated desires for development.

Culture, Equity, and the Arts
Reflecting diverse creative sector voices and sustaining the creative life of the city

Civic Partnerships
Leading or participating in local partnerships with civic leaders and organizations to address critical or timely challenges facing the city

Vital Communities
Investing targeted resources in a small number of place-based initiatives and organizations that provide infrastructure support to neighborhood

Advancing Leadership
Within the three funding areas above, advancing equity by expanding access to leadership opportunities and by supporting people who bring different experiences and perspectives to leadership positions

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.

Findings and analyses from evaluation activities are posted publicly as they become available.