Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation Announces $3.6 Million in Funding to Organizations in Chicago, Lowcountry of South Carolina

 

Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation Announces $3.6 Million in Funding to Organizations in Chicago, Lowcountry of South Carolina 

Grants Support Artistic Vitality, Broadening Narratives, and Land Conservation 

(Chicago, IL & Charleston, SC) The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (GDDF) is pleased to announce support for 69 groups in its 2024 spring/summer grant cycle. The Board of Directors has approved over $3.6 million in funding to organizations working in the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina across the Foundation’s three program areas: Artistic Vitality, Broadening Narratives, and Land Conservation. A full list of all grantees appears at the end of this release.  

The Foundation also has an additional round of grant funding at the end of the year. 

GDDF continues to have a deep presence in our regions, fostering opportunities for impact, innovation, and collaboration. The Foundation is proud of the longstanding relationships it builds with grantee partners—fifty-six grants are for renewed support, while 13 new organizations are being welcomed to GDDF’s portfolio.  

Forty-seven—nearly 70 percent—of this cycle’s grants are for multiyear general operating support. 

“The Foundation is committed to trust-based practices and offering our partner-grantees steady, sustained support that recognizes their expertise in their fields and regions,” noted Executive Director Arnold Randall.  

“We are proud to support this vibrant array of organizations that play such a vital role in their communities,” continued Randall. “Collectively, their work speaks to our humanity: the art that inspires us, the narratives that shape us, and the land that sustains us.” 

Chicago Region 

In Chicago, GDDF is supporting 53 organizations with more than $2.9 million in funding. Eleven are new grantees. 

Artistic Vitality 

$825,250 to 33 organizations, including four new groups:  

Homeroom, Kokandy Productions, Pullman Arts (fiscal sponsor Voice of the City), The South Side Jazz Coalition. 

Despite the challenges faced by the sector, neighborhood-based small arts organizations are producing innovative, exciting, and engaging works throughout the city. GDDF is proud to support these building blocks of Chicago’s cultural vibrancy. 

Broadening Narratives 

$453,193 to nine organizations including seven new groups:  

DePaul University, Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, Heritage Museum of Asian Art, National Museum of Gospel Music, Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago (fiscal sponsor Chicago Cultural Alliance), National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, and Shorefront. 

Broadening Narratives is a newly imagined approach to the work of collections. GDDF is working to ensure that those whose stories are being told through collections are included in the decisions about how those stories are told, with an emphasis on untold or incomplete or inaccurate stories. The Foundation wants to help balance subject-matter expertise with lived experience expertise, foster partnerships between smaller community-based organizations and large institutions, and encourage equity in resource sharing.  

Land Conservation 

$1,630,000 to 11 groups, plus one cross-region grant with the Lowcountry. 

One grantee is new: The Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest Preserves. 

Even though Chicago is highly urbanized, 11% of the region is made up of rare natural areas like prairies and wetlands while also being comprised of nearly 50% farmland that provides additional ecosystem benefits. GDDF is proud to be a steady funding partner for organizations stewarding and protecting these natural and working lands with an emphasis on climate resiliency and inclusive practices that provide ecological and quality of life benefits to diverse human communities.  

Lowcountry of South Carolina 

In the Lowcountry, GDDF is supporting 16 organizations with more than $700,000 in funding. One is a new grantee. 

Artistic Vitality 

$290,000 to 10 organizations throughout the Lowcountry.  

They are: Annex Dance Company, The Flowertown Players, Footlight Players, Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, Gibbes Museum of Art, Long Bay Symphonic Society, Native Island Business and Community Affairs Association/Gullah Celebration, Palmetto City Ballet, South Carolina Arts Alliance, and South of Broadway Theatre. 

From Gullah-Geechee artists to art museums to world-class musical ensembles, the arts are an integral part of the culture that makes the Lowcountry so unique. Incredible professional artists are creating in communities throughout the Lowcountry, and GDDF supports a wide spectrum of organizations that help make that work possible and that reflect the vitality and diversity of this region.   

Broadening Narratives 

$127,500 to three organizations including one new group: Dorchester Heritage Center. 

The returning organizations are: South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development and The Village Group. 

Broadening Narratives is a newly imagined approach to the work of collections. GDDF is working to ensure that those whose stories are being told through collections are included in the decisions about how those stories are told, with an emphasis on untold or incomplete or inaccurate stories. The Foundation wants to help balance subject-matter expertise with lived experience expertise, foster partnerships between smaller community-based organizations and large institutions, and encourage equity in resource sharing. 

Land Conservation 

$290,000 for two organizations plus one cross-region grant with Chicago. 

The organizations are: Open Land Trust, PeeDee Land Trust, and the Trust for Public Land (jointly with Chicago). 

The Foundation is energized by the success of this year’s Lowcountry Land Conservation Symposium, which brought together nearly 200 people to tackle the subject of community-focused conservation. GDDF is proud to support organizations that are working in partnership with communities to protect biodiverse landscapes, create green infrastructure, engage in cultural conservation, and more.  

In addition to grantmaking, GDDF is committed to supporting our grantee partners in a variety of ways, including access to trainings and support for collaborations and convenings.

The Foundation’s next round of grants will be made in November. 

Full List of Grant Recipients

Chicago Region Grant Recipients 

Artistic Vitality Program 

Access Contemporary Music  

Aerial Dance Chicago  

The Artistic Home Acting Ensemble 

Asian Improv aRts Midwest  

Beyond This Point  

Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival 

Chicago Jazz Philharmonic  

The Chicago Poetry Center 

Chicago Reader  

Comfort Station 

Deeply Rooted Productions  

Ensemble Dal Niente  

First Floor Theater  

Homeroom 

HotHouse 

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art 

Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts  

Kokandy Productions 

Lawndale Pop-Up Spot  

Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, Inc.  

MOMENTA  

The Mural Movement 

Pullman Arts (fiscal sponsor Voice of the City) 

Red Clay Dance Company  

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble  

Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center  

See Chicago Dance  

Silk Road Rising (dba Gilloury Institute) 

Strawdog Theatre Company 

The South Side Jazz Coalition  

TUTA: The Utopian Theatre Asylum  

Union Street Gallery  

Water Street Studios 

 

Broadening Narratives Program 

Bronzeville Black Chicagoan Historical Society   

DePaul University  

Experimental Sound Studio   

Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago (fiscal sponsor Chicago Cultural Alliance) 

Gerber/Hart Library and Archives  

Heritage Museum of Asian Art 

National Museum of Gospel Music  

The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture 

Shorefront  

 

Land Conservation Program 

American Farmland Trust  

The Conservation Foundation  

Faith in Place  

Friends of the Chicago River   

Friends of the Forest Preserves  

Geneva Lake Conservancy   

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County 

Metropolitan Planning Council   

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation   

Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest Preserves   

Shirley Heinze Land Trust   

Trust for Public Land (joint between Chicago and Lowcountry) 

 

Lowcountry Region Grant Recipients 

Artistic Vitality Program 

Annex Dance Company 

The Flowertown Players 

Footlight Players 

Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum 

Gibbes Museum of Art 

Long Bay Symphonic Society 

Native Island Business and Community Affairs Association/Gullah Celebration 

Palmetto City Ballet 

South Carolina Arts Alliance 

South of Broadway Theatre 

 

Broadening Narratives Program 

Dorchester Heritage Center 

South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development  

The Village Group 

 

Land Conservation Program 

Open Land Trust 

PeeDee Land Trust 

Trust for Public Land (jointly with Chicago) 

 

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The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation supports land conservation, artistic vitality, and collections for the people of the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. The Foundation seeks to sustain and build resilient, vital, engaged, and equitable communities in these two regions by supporting conservation, arts, and collecting organizations that broaden narratives. For more information, visit gddf.org.