Create our Future
2020 has created unprecedented turmoil for the arts and culture sector, but together we will overcome and build a stronger, more just Illinois.
Sign our petition to the Mayor
Chicago is receiving $1.8 billion in relief funds, our government is making decisions now about how those dollars will be spent, and a portion must go to the arts.
Please add your name to support the arts in Chicago! We’ll be delivering this letter to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor on April 16th.
Arts Alliance Illinois fights for arts resources and policies that benefit our members and all Illinois residents.
With 25,000 active subscribers and hundreds of members, we connect the people and ideas that are shaping the future of the creative sector.
Join Jonathan's Office Hours, Fridays @ 10am
This is an opportunity to talk with Jonathan and get your questions answered about current local, state and federal legislation and COVID relief programs.
Create the Future Annual Benefit
Join us live online April 29, 2021 as we honor Creative Voice Awardee Darren Walker, Citizen Advocate Awardee Michelle L. Collins, and the inaugural Creative Youth Development Award recipient, sponsored by Allstate.
Programs
Through our programming, Arts Alliance Illinois connects the people and ideas that
shape the future of the arts, culture, and creativity.
Membership
Members are the backbone of Arts Alliance Illinois: the largest connected state-level arts advocacy network fighting for arts resources and policies that benefit its members and all Illinois residents.
Due to the COVID crisis, and to center our commitment to equity and access, Arts Alliance Illinois is offering pay-what-you-can membership for ALL Illinois creative individuals and organizations for the next year.
Active Supporters
Advocacy Actions taken in 2020
Members of the Alliance
Stand with us to support the arts and support Illinois
From Our Community
Artists give so much to the world. Most people have been able to cope with this tragedy by watching television or rewatching plays or live streams of readings and work. This is what we have been called to do. […] All we are asking is that we have what we need to be able to continue to be “essential soul workers” ... “essential comfort workers” ... essential joy givers ... laughter inciters ... release ... escape.
We pour out so much daily and are often overlooked. Underpaid. Underappreciated. I ask that we all use this time of stillness to remember the value of art in our community and society.
Sydney Charles, Actress
We have had to make emotionally significant changes to personnel to ensure the future of the theater, which has resulted in 74 part-time positions eliminated, 14% of full-time staff laid off and 50% of staff furloughed for varying lengths of time. Like our peer organizations we are heartbroken to have to make these difficult decisions, but with the uncertainty of when we can safely return to live performance, the core of who we are is threatened.
The void we collectively feel in not being able to come together to share stories is vast—and has reinforced how essential the live arts are to our shared humanity.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Latest News
We’re Hiring: Join Our Team!
Administrative Assistant Open Position Who We Are Arts Alliance Illinois champions arts resources and policies that benefit our...
Congress Passes Major COVID Relief Bill
Last night (Monday, December 21), Congress passed a $900-billion COVID relief bill in combination with the $1.4 trillion FY 2021 budget. The House...
Looking Forward for the Alliance
While we are happy to say “good riddance” to 2020, we are still facing the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and structural racism. As we move into 2021,...