Calling this a moment of crisis for the arts, some of Chicago’s top cultural leaders want the city to mobilize a response amid new Trump-era arts funding rules.
“We have an opportunity right now as a city to show what supporting artists and arts organizations can look like in our nation,” said Brooke Flanagan, Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s executive director, at a Tuesday meeting of the city’s Cultural Advisory Council.
The meeting was the group’s first since President Donald Trump’s second term began. Sweeping changes to grant programs at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the nation’s preeminent arts funder, have caused panic in Chicago’s arts community.
The new guidelines include a shifting focus from underserved communities to projects that celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. The guidelines also prohibit use of federal monies by groups that support “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
The council — a group of City Council-approved volunteers who serve in an advisory capacity and don’t have governing authority — asked Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) to issue clearer direction on a strategy and communication to the arts sector.
DCASE Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth, pictured on Feb. 4, 2025, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting in person. Members of the advisory committee said they want direction from Hedspeth and her department on how they can be utilized as a group.
Manuel Martinez/WBEZ
The meeting also waded into concerns about leadership at the department in the wake of high staff turnover.
“I would like to express my deep concern for what is reported to be toxic and dysfunctional behavior inside the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,” Joanna Furnans, the executive director of Chicago Dancemakers Forum, said in public comment at the top of the meeting.
Chicago’s DCASE is responsible for overseeing large-scale cultural events and distributing funding directly to Chicago artists and organizations.
DCASE Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth, whom Brandon Johnson appointed to lead the department last spring, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting in person. She instead joined virtually to give brief remarks. Members of the advisory council, which Flanagan said serves as a bridge between DCASE and the city’s arts sector, say they want direction from Hedspeth and her department on how they can be utilized as a group.
Brooke Flanagan, the executive director of Steppenwolf Theatre, hopes that Chicago can be a national example of a city coming together to support artists.
Victor Hilitski/For the Chicago Sun-Times
“I think what people are asking [for] is sort of a very clear plan about how DCASE, and the commissioner and leadership would like to use the [council],” said the group’s chair Coya Paz.
“I’m feeling in my gut a lot of stress right now,” said Esther Grimm, the former executive director and founder of 3Arts. “We’re talking about being in a relatively escalating state of crisis right now and we haven’t heard anything from DCASE about that. There is an urgency here.”
Council member Claire Rice, the executive director of Arts Alliance Illinois, said this is a “unique opportunity for DCASE and for the city to demonstrate their commitment to arts … this is the moment for us to do that and it can start here, at this agency.”
In response, Grimm added: “It must start here. We need to stand up together and figure this thing out.”
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.