Artistic Vitality

Vibrant arts make for vibrant communities. We encourage artistic vitality by nurturing excellence, participation, and appreciation in the professional arts using the following strategies:

  • Supporting professional arts organizations that create excellent and innovative art.
  • Creating lasting public access to significant collections that illuminate the cultural heritage of our two regions.

Over the years, we have come to focus our efforts in three specific initiatives as described below. In the Chicago region, we accept unsolicited grant applications for Nurturing Chicago Region Artistic Vitality and Regionally Significant Collections. In the Lowcountry, we accept unsolicited grant applications only for Regionally Significant Collections.

Artistic Vitality Initiatives

Nurturing Chicago Region Artistic Vitality

The Chicago region is a hotbed, an incubator - a place where young and ambitious artists of all stripes can interact, experiment, sometimes fail, try again, and flourish. Our initiative strives to nurture them by supporting and building the capacity of professional arts organizations with budgets under $1 million.

Learn More »

Charleston Region Arts Network

Charleston is emerging as an arts hub. Our strategy is to nurture, develop, and strengthen a sustainable network of professional arts organizations.

Learn More »

Regionally Significant Collections

Both Chicago and the Lowcountry have significant collections that illuminate each region’s artistic, cultural and historic heritage. Many of these collections are not currently accessible to the public. In some instances, they are in danger of deterioration or permanent loss. Our goal is to preserve these collections and provide public access to them.

Learn More »

View all Artistic Vitality grants »

From the Blog

Sewee to Santee eyes smart growth through regional branding

For rural communities suffering from poverty, development can seem like a no-brainer: if you build it, they will come, bringing jobs and opportunities with them. But as sprawl across the country has shown, development can come at the expense of a rural community’s own character and sense of place, and can leave areas ravaged when companies that built there leave for cheaper pastures. In the Sewee to Santee region of South Carolina, a vision is forming: a better quality of life for its residents built on the belief that a rich rural landscape is an opportunity, rather than an obstacle to be overcome. Read More »

A new way forward for South Carolina’s rural communities

South Carolina’s beautiful rural landscape belies an unfortunate reality of poverty. How can the state's rural communities take advantage of existing assets to achieve long-term prosperity? Read More »

Celebrate National Park Week at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

National Park Week is April 21-29, 2012. You don't have to go all the way to Yellowstone or the Everglades to participate: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is just an hour outside of Chicago. Learn more about what the National Lakeshore has to offer. Read More »

Recent Tweets

16 May
In Charleston, @puretheatre and Holy City Shakespeare collaborate on a casual, refreshing "Twelfth Night" http://t.co/cRAQAznD

14 May
Neat to see collaboration among Chicago's dance companies-- in this case Muntu and DanceWorks: http://t.co/ZpRvYhqS

14 May
In case you missed it: on Friday we posted this story about regional branding efforts in #rural SC: http://t.co/1insWBMl #Sewee #Santee

11 May
Thx, happily aboard! RT @chiwilderness #FF newest members of the Chicago Wilderness alliance: @GDDonnelley, @willconserve, @WaukeganPrkDist