October 21, 2025
Policy & Advocacy
Chicago's FY27 Budget: Arts & Culture Funding
Arts Alliance organized a citywide sign-on letter calling for increased arts and culture investment in Chicago’s FY27 budget. Read our letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson signed by over 2,000 leaders and supporters across the cultural community of our city.
Arts Alliance Illinois sent a letter to Mayor Johnson urging the City to increase DCASE grantmaking by $15 million, restoring it to its historic 2023 peak of $23.5 million.
In an interview with WBEZ earlier this month, Mayor Johnson said that he wants investment in arts and culture to be “the way to define [his] administration.” This budget season is his chance to make that happen, and this sign-on letter is our chance to ask him for it.
Our city’s cultural fabric is a rich tapestry of communities across Chicago, and DCASE grants help keep our local neighborhoods vibrant and thriving. Increasing DCASE’s available funds for grantmaking means more direct support going into the hands of local artists and organizations so they can keep creating and expanding access to cultural experiences.
As federal policies continue to harm our cultural organizations and communities, we need local cities to step up to support artists and creative workers who are struggling. Arts and culture makes up 11.3% of Chicago’s economy, yet last year Chicago was the only one of the nation’s five largest cities to cut funding for our local arts agency.
From the Field
“City funding allows people to make art, and that helps maintain Chicago as a center for cultural innovation.”
“DCASE grants allow artists who have lived and worked in Chicago to actually stay in Chicago and continue making work.”
“Group theaters across the country are facing financial difficulties. But smaller and medium sized theaters like Latino theaters, Black theaters, BIPOC theaters are actually seeing their audiences grow.
DCASE's support shows its commitment to a growing demographic that now represents the largest minority in Chicago.”
"DCASE funds not only make it possible for people to keep working, but to do so without having to leave Chicago. They are a commitment to amplify voices too often neglected or excluded by mainstream media."
Past City Budgets
Read about arts funding for the City of Chicago in past years, including analyses from the Alliance, past resources, and more.
November 8, 2024
October 25, 2023
October 5, 2022
