Hyde Park Art Center Announces $120K, 3rd Phase of Artists Run Chicago Fund

Via PR

CHICAGO, IL (December 15, 2022) Hyde Park Art Center, the renowned non-profit hub for contemporary art located on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, announces the third phase of Artists Run Chicago Fund, a regranting initiative providing unrestricted COVID relief for Chicago’s artist community since 2021. The third phase will give a total of $120,000 to 15 independent artist-run spaces ($8,000 each). To date, the initiative has given more than half a million dollars ($680,000) to 85 independent artists-run spaces. Artists Run Chicago Fund initiative is generously supported by the Builders Initiative.

The fund aims to acknowledge the important contributions of artist-run platforms to the Chicago art community, strengthen artist-to-artist support networks, and encourage the emergence of new artist-run spaces, while prioritizing platforms run by ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American), queer, womxn artists and artists with disabilities. Grantees range from artist-run galleries, community studios, festivals, to art writing and programming platforms, infusing Chicago’s visual art ecosystem with flexible financial support to strengthen their diverse and experimental programs.

Recipients of the third phase include: Bird Show, Bridge, Center for Native Futures, Contra Corriente 2023, Convictions, Companion Cooperative, Hoofprint, Intersect, Mayfield, Mothers Healing Circle, Narrow Bridge Arts Center, Out of Site Chicago, SITE/less, Watershed Art & Ecology, and WILD YAMS: Black Mothers and Caretakers Artist Residency.

Mariela Acuna, the Art Center’s Exhibitions and Residency Manager, talks about the core values of the grant initiative being innovation-driven and artist-centered: “Diverse in their programming, this year’s grant recipients exemplify the spirit of artist-run art platforms in Chicago: they have invented new experimental ways to present visual arts programs, and committed to building support for diverse artist groups. We are honored to be in a position to support the work of these astute artists whose labor and generosity feeds the creative energy of Chicago by creating platforms that uplift other artists.”

Elizabeth Born from Hoofprint shares how this grant enables the organization to work with emerging artists: “Artists at the beginning of their careers may not have access to or resources to sell their work, and often make work that is not commercially viable or easily commodified. The ARC Grant will allow us to provide artists with a no-strings-attached stipend to ensure that they are compensated for their ideas and labor, regardless of their proximity to collectors.” Teri Carson from Intersect shares the sentiment: “We are thrilled and thankful we can continue our work supporting emerging artists working in performance, sound, moving image and new media. This grant will enable us to provide more opportunities for artists to grow, share their work, and experiment in front of an audience."

Michelle Kranicke and David Sundry, co-directors of  SITE/less, share how the grant is significant in supporting alternative artmaking: “This grant is such an important recognition for artists working to create spaces that challenge the typical model of most museum and performance venues. At SITE/less, we work to rethink the relationship between typical performance venues and curatorial practice.The acknowledgement and support from Hyde Park Art Center means a lot for experimental spaces like us.”

Initiated during the challenging years of the COVID-19 outbreak, Artists Run Chicago Fund has created breathing room for artist-run projects to continue to innovate and thrive. The first two phases took place in 2021 and granted awards of $8,000 to each of the 70 independent artist-run spaces. The grants have increased platforms’ capacity to pay artists to make new work, pay staff, develop new programs, 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 forty spaces in existence between 1999 and 2009, and Artists Run Chicago 2.0 in 2020 to celebrate the work of fifty artist-run spaces that fuel Chicago’s independent art scene. The fund will continue to support independent art spaces for three years.

About Hyde Park Art Center

Hyde Park Art Center, at 5020 South Cornell Avenue on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, is a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering and production space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. Since its inception in 1939, Hyde Park Art Center has grown from a small collective of artists to establishing a strong legacy of innovative development and emerging as a unique Chicago arts institution with social impact. The Art Center functions as an amplifier for today and tomorrow’s creative voices, providing the space to cultivate and create new work and connections.

For more information about Hyde Park Art Center and the Artists Run Chicago Fund, please visit  https://www.hydeparkart.org/