DCASE Awards $6.5M In Grants to Nonprofit Arts Organizations

Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) awarded $6.5 million to Chicago nonprofit arts organizations August 1. Funding for this 2022 CityArts Program increased 280 percent, up from $1.7 million last year, DCASE officials said.

“The continued, equitable revitalization of our arts and culture scene remains essential to our ability to recover from this pandemic on a socioeconomic level,” Mayor Lightfoot said. “I’m proud to increase our grant funding in support of local artists and arts organizations to advance our recovery and bring beauty and life back to our neighborhoods.”

The 2022 City budget provided $26 million in new arts and culture investments — including $10 million for a dedicated revenue stream to guarantee baseline funding for Cultural Grants, which will no longer be subject to the vagaries of the hotel tax.

“In 2022, with additional funds, and our operating budget being largely restored to pre-pandemic levels, DCASE is now poised to serve the needs of Chicago’s vital arts community this year and well into the future,” DCASE Commissioner Erin Harkey said.

This year’s grant amounts were also increased for greater impact; instead of onetime grants of $2,000 to $25,000, they are $10,000 to $50,000, renewable for one year. There were also 280 grantees this year, compared to 200 last year.

More than a dozen projects were aligned with 2022 as the #YearofChicagoDance:

• Ballet Folklorico de Chicago for “Arte en le Noche,” a re-creation of the Island of Janitzio’s candlelit boats during the Day of the Dead.

• Chicago Dance History Project for “Digitizing Dance: 2022 and Beyond,” a two-fold initiative towards community documentation and an audience engagement pop-up booth.

• Chicago Dancemakers Forum, production residencies for dance innovation, in partnership with local venues.

• Chicago Tap Theatre and Making a Difference Dancing Rhythms (M.A.D.D Rhythms) Organization for “Bridging the Gap, One Step at a Time” and the 6th annual Chicago Tap Summit, a three-day celebration of Chicago tap and music culminating in a public showcase and faculty performance.

• Clinard Dance, for “Flamenco de Barrio en Barrio,” to explore correlations between jazz, blues and flamenco.

• DanceWorks Chicago, for “New Dances 2022,” which provides a platform for early-career choreographers to create work with artistic, logistic and financial support.

• International Latino Culture Center of Chicago, for Chicago’s first Latino Dance Festival, highlighting traditional and contemporary forms in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

• Links Hall Incorporated, for “You Choose: Links Hall Curators-in-Residence,” which fully funds BIPOC artistcurators to create more opportunities.

• LUMA8, for the Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade, which includes unique floats, puppets and dance.

• Red Clay Dance Company for “In the Making,” a career incubator that provides affordable studio space, supportive infrastructure and professional development, spanning four weeks.

• Soham Dance Space for Parijat Desai’s “Dance in the Round,” which harnesses the power of circle dances from Gujarat, India, to support inclusion.

• South Chicago Dance Theatre for “Memoirs of Jazz in the Alley: A Dance Opera,” which memorializes Chicago’s historic jazz in those street venues.

• The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, for Chicago Artists Spotlight Platform, which will select 10 artists to teach one class in their neighborhood, one virtual class, and to be featured in public forums.