Chicago Dancemakers Forum supports individual dancemakers through a variety of programs. The grant will explore the development of a fiscal sponsorship program for Chicago dancemakers. It expects the fiscal sponsorship project to provide artists with access to more funding opportunities while advancing CDF’s mission of getting more financial resources into the hands of artists.
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CCRx redistributes donations of materials, supplies, and equipment to Chicago teachers, nonprofits, artists, and community groups to spark creativity and environmental stewardship. The grant will explore pathways to incorporating its creative reuse model into the infrastructure of the City of Chicago, CPS, libraries, and parks. Through this effort, it plans to scale its program as a municipal or municipally supported program.
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Creative Netwerk builds community through dance culture: Hip-Hop, Chicago Footwork, House, and DJ programming. The grant will allow Creative Netwerk to research and pilot various formats of family engagement designed to connect parents and family members to the arts learning achieved by the youth in its programs.
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Enrich Chicago works to dismantle racist systems in the arts, ensuring that BIPOC artists, arts organizations, and people can thrive. This grant will help Enrich Chicago explore the potential impact of a participatory evaluation framework in supporting the evolution and impact of its Imagine Just Community Program on BIPOC artists and collectives. The framework will provide an assessment of the program's effectiveness and involve participants in shaping the program's future.
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Haymarket Opera Company presents historically informed operas from the 17th and 18th centuries. With this grant, Haymarket will conduct tests over two productions to determine the best path forward toward digital distribution of recorded performance to build new audiences and revenue streams.
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Intonation works with youth to experience making music on their own terms in their own communities. A previous AWF grant allowed Intonation to explore space options that ensure its longevity and integrate even more into the community. This grant will support the next steps in the process: site selection.
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The Kehrein Center is a home for artistic creative expression that prioritizes the Black experience in the Austin community. This grant will allow the Kehrein Center to work with a Black women-led marketing and communications firm to better communicate the interconnectedness of its programming for Black people to Black people in ways that resonate with Black people.
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Links Hall supports independent contemporary artists across all performance disciplines through residency programs, artist-curated festivals, performance series, and workshops. This grant will support a diverse cross-section of Links community stakeholders to collectively vision and develop a plan to address the upcoming space transition.
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The Midwest Film Festival is a year-round platform serving Midwestern filmmakers by showcasing regionally produced cinema. With this grant, the Festival will develop a blueprint for expansion that will lay the groundwork for enduring stakeholder engagement, fostering robust community relationships, and fortifying financial sustainability.
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Segundo Ruiz preserves and promotes appreciation of the culture and arts of Puerto Rico and Latin America with a focus on its African heritage. This grant will allow the organization to engage in a strategic planning process to rethink traditional marketing strategies.
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Sisters in Cinema centers on Black girls, women, and gender non-conforming media makers. Its Cinema Media Arts Center opened in March 2024. With the recent opening of its Media Center, Sisters in Cinema seeks to create an internal succession plan for its entire team from leadership to assistants. This is a proactive effort to prevent vulnerability during both major and minor staff transitions and to plan for future staff needs and the skills needed for these roles.
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South Asia Institute cultivates the art and culture of South Asia and its diaspora through exhibitions, programs, and educational initiatives. The organization's programming calendar continues to grow. This grant will help South Asia Institute develop a marketing and visibility campaign. Staff will be trained in new data tools to inform programming decisions.
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Theatre Y is an all-ages ensemble and free theater on Chicago's West Side. Over the past several years, it has changed its operating model and philosophy, moving from the north side to becoming embedded in the North Lawndale Community. This grant will help Theatre Y to fortify its financial foundation and expand its capacity. Theatre Y will develop and pilot new fundraising strategies, review and revamp existing fundraising practices, train staff and board, and develop a system for monitoring and evaluating fundraising initiatives to gauge their effectiveness.
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