Meeting the Moment: Funding a New Era in Chicago's Performing Arts
A response to the impact of COVID-19 on the performing arts sector in Chicago
As one of the hardest-hit industries of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago’s performing arts sector has demonstrated incredible strength and resilience. Not only have Chicago’s arts workers survived this difficult time, but their art is now being used as a tool to process, heal, and rebuild our communities from the social trauma that the pandemic has inflicted upon and exposed within our society.
After more than a year of closed venues, canceled events, and scarcity of work and income, the pandemic has transformed the sector to where it will never be the same again. As a new era of performing arts emerges, it is important to consider how we might meet the needs of the moment to sustain this sector for life beyond the pandemic.
In 2020, Walder Foundation developed a fund to Build a Resilient Performing Arts Sector in Chicago to provide relief to arts service organizations. In 2021, our efforts have focused on supporting projects that reimagine the performing arts sector in a post-pandemic world. Through a request for proposals, we invited organizations to propose ideas for ways to reimagine the sector by leveraging assets of creativity, ingenuity, and originality. The resulting series of grants go to organizations that serve traditionally under-resourced populations, communities, and genres; prioritize system-wide change and collaboration; and focus on sustainable livelihoods for artists.
This support represents a nearly $3 million investment in the Chicago region’s performing arts sector:
Dance
Interdisciplinary
Kalapriya Foundation, Center for Indian Performing Arts
Music
Eighth Blackbird Performing Arts Association
Fulcrum Point New Music Project
The Haymarket Opera Company NFP
Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra
Theater
Chicago Latino Theater Alliance
Serendipity Theatre Company DBA 2nd Story
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