The Artists Run Chicago Fund is a unique regranting initiative designed and administered by Hyde Park Art Center. The fund has provided over half a million dollars in support of the artist community in Chicago, and we’re still going. Since 2020, The ARC Fund has awarded eighty-five $8,000 grants to artist-run platforms, infusing Chicago’s contemporary art network with flexible financial support to strengthen their diverse and experimental programs.
Entering its fourth iteration, the ARC Fund seeks to award fifteen $8,000 grants to artists-run spaces, projects, and platforms (ARS/P/P) in Chicago. All spaces new to the grant and those which have received the grant in the past are eligible to apply for flexible funding to support their work. Grantees will be selected through a free, juried, open call.
Program Goals:
- To extend support of ARS/P/P (both new and longstanding) and acknowledge their important contribution to the Chicago art community.
- To strengthen the network of ARS/P/P in Chicago.
- To support self-organizing artists who create opportunities for other artists to show and develop their practice in Chicago.
- To give financial support to spaces run by ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American), queer, womxn artists and/or artists with disabilities.
For questions about the Artists Run Chicago Fund contact Tran Tran at ttran@hydeparkart.org.
The Artist Run Chicago Fund is made possible through the generous support from Builders Initiative.
Artists Run Chicago Fund Recipients
062, 4th Ward Project Space, 65Grand, ACRE Projects, Adds Donna, Alt_Space, AMFM, Annas,
Artists Run Chicago at a Glance
Initiated during the challenging years of the COVID-19 outbreak, the ARC Fund has created breathing room for artist-run projects to continue to innovate and thrive. The grants have increased the platforms’ capacity to pay artists to make new work, hire staff, pay exisiting staff, build residency programs that attract visiting artists to the region, increase BIPOC-led platforms, and invest in socially engaged practices.
For over two decades, Hyde Park Art Center has been an ally for independent art spaces. The Art Center presented the first Artist Run Chicago exhibition in 2009 with contributions from 40 spaces in existence between 1999 and 2009. A publication documenting the artist-run energy was produced by Three Walls and published by Green Lantern Press. Our 2020 exhibition Artists Run Chicago 2.0 celebrated the work of fifty artist-run spaces operating between 2010 and 2020 that continue to fuel Chicago’s independent art scene. The Artists Run Chicago Fund was an evolution of this work.
