2026 Legislative Focus
View what we’re cooking up for this year’s legislative session.
Strengthening the Arts & Culture Sector Through State Investment
The State of Illinois has a critical opportunity to invest in its creative engine. This legislative session, we are advocating for a 20% increase to funding for the Illinois Arts Council in the state budget to support long-term stability across the arts and culture sector.
Illinois’ arts and culture sector remains in a fragile recovery. Cultural institutions and creative workers are navigating unprecedented uncertainty at the federal level. When support becomes unpredictable, communities lose cultural assets, economic mobility, and pathways for young people to thrive. A stronger state investment is essential to building the durable, equitable infrastructure the sector needs to weather ongoing change and plan for the future.
What This Means for Communities Across Illinois
This investment also advances several broader advocacy goals that guide our work with policymakers and partners across the state:
- Supporting creative workers to move from surviving to thriving by strengthening income stability, workforce pathways, and access to resources
- Ensuring access to quality K–12 arts education by sustaining organizations and programs that partner with schools and communities
- Building public will for the arts by reinforcing the arts as essential public infrastructure worthy of ongoing investment