The Terra Foundation for American Art announced on June 29, 2017 a broad slate of grants given in support of Art Design Chicago, a wide-ranging initiative the Foundation is spearheading to explore Chicago’s vibrant creative history and enduring influence on art and design. Terra leadership confirmed 33 grants for Art Design Chicago projects given to 31 cultural organizations located in and beyond Chicago, totaling approximately $2.5 million. Grant monies will go toward the creation of a diverse range of exhibitions, publications, projects, and academic and public programs, which will illuminate voices and narratives that were critical to the evolution of Chicago as a cultural epicenter of art and design movements globally. Art Design Chicago will take place throughout 2018, and a selection of highlights from the initiative are featured below.
The Terra grant to the Block Museum of Art will support the 2018 exhibition Designers in Film: Avant-Garde and Commercial Cinema in Mid-Century Chicago. The exhibition will be the first to focus on the relationship between film and mid-twentieth century art and design in Chicago, and to study this history as a particular outgrowth of the city’s social, artistic, and political climate. The exhibition features highly inventive moving images alongside materials related to their creation, ranging from designed objects to drawings, print advertisements, photographs, and other ephemera.
In total, the Terra Foundation is investing $6.5 million in bringing the initiative to fruition. This includes grants given to cultural partners as well as funds for promotional and administrative support. Additional support for Art Design Chicago is provided by Presenting Partner The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Chicago Community Trust and Leo Burnett are providing in-kind support.
“Throughout our history, the Terra Foundation has supported a diversity of Chicago-related projects. With our 40thanniversary approaching, we celebrate and reaffirm our commitment to our hometown in a way that recognizes its numerous and significant contributions to the creation and experience of art and design around the world,” said Elizabeth Glassman, President and CEO of the Terra Foundation. “We are honored and excited by the scholarly quality, depth, and innovative spirit of our partners’ proposals, and the enthusiasm with which so many organizations took on the opportunity to highlight the dynamic, yet lesser-known, narratives of Chicago. We look forward to continuing to support our many partners in the development of Art Design Chicago and to bringing these exciting exhibitions, publications, and events to the public for their enjoyment.”
Partners for the initiative range widely in mission, focus, and approach, from the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum to the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and from the South Side Community Art Center to The Art Institute of Chicago, and so many others. Together, they represent the spectacular diversity of cultural organizations throughout Chicago and the richness of innovation and artistry that has and continues to characterize the city.
Organizations receiving June 2017 grants include:
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Bradley University Art Department
- Caxton Club of Chicago
- Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events
- Chicago Design Museum
- Chicago History Museum
- Chicago Parks Foundation
- Chicago Public Library Foundation
- DePaul Art Museum at DePaul University
- DuSable Museum of African American History
- Elmhurst College
- Graham School, University of Chicago
- Illinois Executive Mansion Association
- Illinois Humanities
- Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
- Koehnline Museum of Art at Oakton Community College
- Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University
- Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
- Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
- National Museum of Mexican Art
- National Public Housing Museum
- Newberry Library
- Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning & Leadership
- Smart Museum of Art at University of Chicago
- South Side Community Art Center
- Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College
- Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
- University of Chicago Arts, Public Art Program
- University of Chicago Center in Paris
- Video Game Art Gallery
