The National Endowment for the Arts will give nearly $2 million in funding to 80 arts organizations in Illinois, the agency said this week.
The most prominent federal arts funder, the NEA will support organizations from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, to the Joffrey Ballet, the Chicago Dance History Project and theater companies large and small.
The announcement comes days before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated for a second term. During his first term, Trump vowed to slash funding to the NEA. That effort ultimately failed.
In Chicago, NEA funding also flows to the city’s cultural department, which uses the dollars for regranting and programming.
In total, the NEA awarded nearly $37 million nationally to 1,474 recipients across several grant programs. The funding streams include Grants for Arts Projects, a broad category meant to strengthen the nation’s arts and culture sector, and Challenge America, which is given primarily to small organizations that reach underserved groups. The NEA also awards research grants and literature fellowships.
Locally, Northwestern University received an $85 million research grant to investigate music-based rehabilitation for minors who have suffered concussions. Other groups received dollars for everything from artist-in-residency programs to glassblowing workshops for community members injured by gun violence.
Here are the Chicago recipients in alphabetical order
Descriptions are according to the grant applications.
3Arts
$20,000
Purpose: To support residencies and related activities for artists with disabilities.
773 Dance Project
$10,000
Purpose: To support a dance production and community programming for low-income families.
About Face Theatre
$15,000
Purpose: To support Re/Generation Studio, a free theater festival.
American Indian Center
$10,000
Purpose: To support a performance-based gathering of Indigenous communities of the Midwest.
Art Institute of Chicago (on behalf of Gene Siskel Film Center)
$20,000
Purpose: To support the Black Harvest Film Festival, presented by the Gene Siskel Film Center, and related public programming.
Arts of Life
$25,000
Purpose: To support a professional development program focused on artists with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Association of Architecture Organizations
$20,000
Purpose: To support a series of Design Matters conferences.
Black Ensemble Theater Corporation
$25,000
Purpose: To support the Black Playwrights Festival.
Black Girls Dance
$10,000
Purpose: To support a student performance centered on the Black experience.
Blair Thomas & Company (aka Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival)
$60,000
Purpose: To support artist fees and personnel costs for the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival.
Cedille Records
$25,000
Purpose: To support a recording project as part of America250.
Chicago Architecture Biennial
$25,000
Purpose: To support the 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial.
Chicago Architecture Foundation
$30,000
Purpose: To support Open House Chicago, a free, citywide event presented by the Chicago Architecture Center.
Chicago Children’s Theatre
$40,000
Purpose: To support the development, production, and distribution of a series of theatrical productions for virtual streaming, based on traditional Mother Goose nursery rhymes.
Chicago Dance History Project
$10,000
Purpose: To support community engagement activities related to CDHP’s archive of Chicago area dance artists’ creative work.
Chicago Dancemakers Forum
$30,000
Purpose: To support the DanceChance residency and performance program for the Chicago dance community.
Chicago International Film Festival
$40,000
Purpose: To support the Chicago International Film Festival, a professional development conference for independent film and media artists, and related public programming.
Chicago Latino Theater Alliance
$20,000
Purpose: To support Destinos: Chicago International Latino Theater Festival.
Chicago Media Project
$30,000
Purpose: To support Shifting Voices, a professional development initiative for underrepresented filmmakers.
Cynthia Yeh, a percussionist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, plays both the glockenspiel and vibraphone during a world premiere composed by Jessie Montgomery at the Symphony Center in May 2024. The CSO is among 80 arts organizations that received a 2025 grant from the NEA.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Chicago Opera Theater
$30,000
Purpose: To support the premiere of She Who Dared by composer Jasmine Barnes and librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, with associated engagement activities.
Chicago Philharmonic Society (aka Chicago Philharmonic)
$25,000
Purpose: To support an artist-in-residence program featuring violinist Njioma Grevious.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
$35,000
Purpose: To support presentations of orchestral works.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (on behalf of Negaunee Music Institute )
$35,000
Purpose: To support artist fees for pre-professional musicians of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a program of the Negaunee Music Institute.
Goodman Theatre
$25,000
Purpose: To support the Goodman Theatre’s production of Fat Ham by James Ijames, in partnership with Definition Theatre.
Chicago Underground NFP Corporation
$20,000
Purpose: To support the Chicago Underground Film Festival and related public programming.
CircEsteem
$20,000
Purpose: To support circus arts programs for youth.
Colgate, Rob Macaisa
$25,000
Purpose: To support a creative writing fellowship
Community TV Network
$30,000
Purpose: To support a digital media production training program for youth living in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood.
Crossing Borders Music Collective
$20,000
Purpose: To support a chamber music concert series including commissions.
Elastic Arts Foundation
$20,000
Purpose: To support the tenth annual Afrofuturist Weekend festival.
Firebird Community Arts
$20,000
Purpose: To support a glassblowing program for youth and other members of the community injured by gun violence.
Fourth Coast Ensemble
$10,000
Purpose: To support the commission and world premiere of a new work, with accompanying engagement activities.
Full Spectrum Features
$50,000
Purpose: To support Community Storytellers, a program supporting the production and exhibition of scripted films by independent artists.
Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance
$10,000 Purpose: To support Music Under Glass (MUG), a free, all-ages community performance series.
Gilloury Institute
$15,000
Purpose: To support the development of Silk Road Cultural Center’s “Road Less Traveled,” conceived by Jamil Khoury and written by Lyra Nalan.
Hearing in Color
$10,000 Purpose: To support a resident vocal ensemble, including a concert of commissioned works.
Hofmann, Richie
$25,000
Purpose: To support a creative writing fellowship
Hyde Park Art Center
$50,000
Purpose: To support exhibitions, residencies, and professional development opportunities for Chicago artists.
Hyde Park Jazz Festival
$30,000
Purpose: To support the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
Hyde Park School of Dance (aka HPSD)
$10,000
Purpose: To support youth dance instruction.
Ingenuity
$25,000
Purpose: To support staff salaries and a professional learning institute related to an ongoing collective impact initiative in Chicago Public Schools.
Joffrey Ballet
$20,000
Purpose: To support the commissioning and premiere of new works from emerging choreographers as part of the Winning Works Competition.
Lira Ensemble (aka Lira)
$10,000 Purpose: To support a series of Polish and American music concerts featuring the Lira Singers.
Live the Spirit Residency
$25,000
Purpose: To support the annual Englewood Jazz Festival.
Lyric Opera of Chicago
$50,000
Purpose: To support the commission and premiere of “Safronia” by composer and librettist avery r. young, with related engagement programming.
Marwen Foundation
$20,000
Purpose: To support professional development for emerging teaching artists.
Midnight Circus in the Parks
$20,000
Purpose: To support the creation and presentation of circus arts and theatrical workshops.
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
$20,000
Purpose: To support performances of “Treemonisha – A Musical Reimagining,” a new version of composer Scott Joplin’s opera with new arrangements by composers Jessie Montgomery and Jannina Norpoth and a libretto adapted from Joplin’s original by Leah-Simbone Bowen and Cheryl L. Davis.
Newberry Library
$50,000
Purpose: To support an exhibition, catalogue, and related programming exploring how Indigenous people have engaged with, contributed to, and resisted American popular culture.
Pegasus Theatre Chicago
$25,000
Purpose: To support the Young Playwrights Festival.
Price, Alta L.
$15,000
Purpose: To support the translation of the novel Tongue Mother by Maddalena Fingerle from the Italian
Puerto Rican Arts Alliance
$25,000
Purpose: To support an exhibition of work by photographer Carlos Flores.
Rendezvous Arts
$10,000
Purpose: To support a chamber music concert series and associated community arts programming in Dixon, Ill..
Sharing Notes
$10,000
Purpose: To support a series of music concerts for hospital patients and older adults.
Shattered Globe Theatre
$20,000
Purpose: To support the Global Playwrights Series, an initiative that fosters the development of new work.
Simple Good
$10,000 Purpose: To support a youth arts residency program at the Illinois Youth Center inWarrenville.
SkyART
$40,000
Purpose: To support free in-person and online studio art-making classes for Chicago youth.
Snow City Arts
$30,000
Purpose: To support arts education programs in hospitals for children and youth.
Sones de Mexico Ensemble
$20,000
Purpose: To support a tour of workshops teaching traditional Mexican songwriting.
South Chicago Dance Theatre
$15,000
Purpose: To support the Josephine Project, an evening of interrelated performances inspired by Josephine Griffin Jones’ trek during America’s Great Migration from Memphis to Chicago.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
$20,000 Purpose: To support the production of “The Book of Grace” by Suzan-Lori Parks.
Territory
$30,000
Purpose: To support the youth-led design of a new intergenerational community center in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago.
Third Coast Percussion
$25,000
Purpose: To support Currents, a performance project.
Thompson Street Opera Company
$10,000
Purpose: To support performances of “Groundwater” by composer Flannery Cunningham.
Uniting Voices (aka Chicago Children’s Choir)
$50,000
Purpose: To support artist fees for the Neighborhood Choir Program and Dimension ensemble, providing choral music training for youth.
University of Chicago
$25,000
Purpose: To support a music presenting project focused on contemporary Indigenous music.
Urban Gateways
$25,000
Purpose: To support the Street Level Youth Media Center, an initiative providing free digital film and media arts workshops for youth.
Vaudeville Chicago
$10,000
Purpose: To support a clowning residency for hospitalized youth.
Illinois NEA grants recipients outside of Chicago
Elgin Community College, Elgin
$10,000 Elgin, IL Purpose: To support an artist residency by Tibetan monks, including public performances, the creation of a sand mandala, and lectures.
Art Encounter, Evanston
$28,000
Purpose: To support visual arts and writing school-based residencies.
Northwestern University, Evanston
$85,000
Purpose: To support a clinical research study investigating the impact of a music-based rehabilitation intervention on cognition and auditory processing in concussed youth.
Special Gifts Theatre, Evanston
$10,000
Purpose: To support the creation and presentation of a musical production by student actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
College of DuPage (on behalf of McAninch Arts Center), Glen Ellyn
$15,000
Purpose: To support an exhibition featuring the work of Japanese artist Hokusai at the College of DuPage’s McAninch Arts Center.
Writers’ Theatre, Glencoe
$15,000
Purpose: To support the world premiere production of “Dhaba on Devon Avenue” by Madhuri Shekar.
Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest
$20,000
Purpose: To support artist residencies and related educational and community programs.
Maywood Fine Arts Association, Maywood
$15,000 Purpose: To support dance programs for K-12 students, including Stairway of the Stars (SoS) dance classes, Classical Ballet for New Audiences (CBNA), and the Summer Dance Intensive program.
City of Mendota
$25,000
Purpose: To support the design and installation of murals in Mendota, Ill.
Illinois State University (on behalf of Obsidian), Normal
$25,000
Purpose: To support the publication and promotion of “Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora.”
Southland College Prep Charter High School, Richton Park
$10,000
Purpose: To support a strings music education program.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana
$10,000
Purpose: To support the publication and promotion of an issue of the journal “Ninth Letter.”
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.