{"id":51500,"date":"2025-07-09T13:35:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T13:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51500\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T13:35:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T13:35:23","slug":"amid-trump-cuts-local-lender-gifts-3-million-to-chicago-arts-and-culture-nonprofits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/51500\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid Trump Cuts, Local Lender Gifts $3 Million To Chicago Arts And Culture Nonprofits"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 Lender, developer and real estate consulting group IFF<\/a> has awarded $3 million in grants to more than 70 Chicago nonprofits and cultural organizations.<\/p>\n

After announcing the grant opportunity earlier this yea<\/a>r, IFF awarded the money to 77 organizations rooted in African, Asian, Black, Indigenous and Latin American traditions. The funding is part of the IFF\u2019s Chicago\u2019s Cultural Treasures initiative, or ChiTreasures \u2014 a four-year program that began in 2021 to support arts and culture organizations in the Chicago area.<\/p>\n

This is the fourth and final round of ChiTreasures grants.<\/p>\n

Fifty-nine organizations received $50,000 gifts \u201cto be used however they see fit,\u201d and 18 organizations received small gifts of $4,400, according to IFF.<\/p>\n

As nonprofits and arts organizations nationwide face funding cuts<\/a> from the Trump administration, IFF is committed to supporting their work, according to the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe importance of arts and creating place in developing healthy and vibrant communities cannot be understated,\u201d said Nakea West, IFF\u2019s chief equity and diversity officer. \u201cThe current moment is \u2026 making these nonprofits vulnerable because of their mission, because of their programming, because of the populations that they serve. \u2026 So these gifts are really coming at a time when the art scene needs more support than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the organizations that received $50,000 is nonprofit arts publisher and literary journal Lucky Jefferson<\/a>. Founded by current Editor-in-Chief NaBeela Washington, Lucky Jefferson started off as a zine in 2018.<\/p>\n

Washington found the IFF grant program through Instagram this year and is \u201cstill in shock\u201d that Lucky Jefferson was selected, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many organizations are losing funding \u2026 and you don\u2019t know if we\u2019re next or if, because we\u2019re funded by Illinois Humanities and Amazon Literary Partnership, we\u2019re going to continue to receive funding from different places,\u201d Washington said. \u201cTo receive that email, it was inspiration to keep going.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Lucky Jefferson team members NaBeela Washington, Mel Shearer, Dorian Nash and Morgan Christie (from left to right). Credit: Provided\/Lucky Jefferson<\/p>\n

Lucky Jefferson will put the funding into its creative arts programs with high school and college students and hyperlocal journalism training for Chicago residents<\/a>, Washington said. The nonprofit is also looking to buy land to start a community garden and host creative workshops and markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the arts are dying in certain ways, I think that there are also opportunities to usher in a rebirth, and we want to be there for that,\u201d Washington said. \u201cThis gift, it just helps us in so many ways because it allows us to invite more people in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other organizations to receive $50,000 include 18th Street Casa de Cultura, Albany Park Theater Project<\/a>, Ballet Folklorico de\u00a0Chicago, Black Girls Dance, Bronzeville Children\u2019s Museum, Center for Native Futures, Kuumba Lynx<\/a>, South Side Jazz Coalition and Yin He Dance.<\/p>\n

Organizations that received $4,400 include Collaboraction Theatre Company<\/a>, Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, National Museum of Mexican Art, South Asia Institute and South Chicago Dance Theatre.<\/p>\n

Nearly 200 organizations submitted applications for ChiTreasures, \u201cemphasizing Chicagoland\u2019s rich cultural landscape and the increased need for financial support for arts and culture organizations,\u201d according to IFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Lucky Jefferson pop-up at a past Semicolon Books\u2019 Lit Fest. Credit: Provided\/Lucky Jefferson<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these organizations, not only do they provide the gift of their art forms, but the art forms create a more vibrant and thoughtful and rich understanding of Chicago,\u201d West said.<\/p>\n

While this is the end of the ChiTreasures program, IFF will continue supporting local nonprofits and arts organizations, West said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always served the arts and culture sector through our facilities and finance technical expertise that will not be going away,\u201d she said. \u201cThe hope was really that [the ChiTreasures program] would really serve as a catalyst for the broader philanthropic landscape to really take up the task of leaning in and supporting these arts and culture organizations in the ways that they need, particularly at a moment when they are so deeply under threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how communities create power and identity for themselves, and so this is such a critical moment to show support for them, to fund them and to give them the space to do the work that they know how to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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