This summer, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation awarded more than $5.3 million to 43 organizations working across arts and culture, investigative journalism, and the built environment. Their work ranges from supporting emerging artists and preserving historic places to strengthening local reporting and expanding access to public information.
Among this summer's grantees is A Red Orchid Theatre who received support for its Incubator Program, which provides emerging artists with free access to its Old Town venue, as well as mentorship in marketing, pricing, and audience services. The Theatre is committed to supporting the next generation of local artmakers and storefront companies who face a shrinking post-pandemic infrastructure and limited access to affordable space.
In the Built Environment portfolio, Friends of Sears Sunken Garden was awarded funding to complete restoration of the near 100-year-old Sears Sunken Garden, helping advance the preservation of a historic part of Chicago’s landscape and returning it to a community gathering space in North Lawndale.
Community Desk Chicago (the Desk) received project and administrative support for their façade restoration program as part of its existing CorridorLive! Initiative in South Shore. The 71st Street corridor from Stony Island Avenue to Yates Boulevard is the heart of South Shore and its main thoroughfare. Funding is intended to restore four to five building facades to increase occupancy in a combination of fully commercial and mixed-use buildings that comprise this historic urban corridor.
Several grants also support journalism and access to mental health resources for Chicago-based investigative journalists and newsrooms. The Global Center for Journalism and Trauma received funding for their Chicago Journalist Resilience Initiative that provides support to supports the psychological resilience of journalists who cover high-stress, trauma-related stories from the 19 member organizations of the Chicago News Consortium. It provides resources, training, and community support to help reporters cope with the emotional toll of their work. The International Women's Media Foundation will establish a dedicated Mental Health Newsroom Emergency Fund for journalists in Chicago to rapidly respond to the psychological distress they face daily.
Together, these projects reflect the creativity, stewardship, and public service that animate Chicago's cultural, civic, and built environments. From preserving historic places and expanding opportunities for artists to supporting public-interest journalism, these organizations are advancing work that helps people connect with their communities and one another.
Learn more about the full list of grant recipients below.
A Red Orchid Theatre
$80,000 to support the Incubator Program
Black Arts & Culture Alliance of Chicago
$120,000 for general operating support
Chicago Artist Guide
$30,000 for general operating support
Chicago Collections
$120,000 for general operating support
Chicago Dance History Project
$120,000 for general operating support
Comfort Station
$80,000 for general operating support
Experimental Sound Studio
$90,000 to support the 2027 and 2028 Sonic Pavilion Festival
FACETS
$100,000 to support the Chicago Alliance of Film Festivals
Media Burn Archive
$80,000 to support the Digitization and Preservation Program
Mezcla Media Collective
$120,000 for general operating support
Rivendell Theatre Ensemble
$90,000 to support the visiting artists, and subsidized theater and rehearsal space programs
The Chicago Community Foundation
$400,000 for Arts Work Fund
The Paper Machete Group Inc. NFP
$80,000 for general operating support
The University of Chicago, Black Metropolis Research Consortium
$120,000 to support the Black Metropolis Research Consortium
Theater Wit
$80,000 to support the subsidized rentals and shared space program
Architecture Review Collective, Inc.
$50,000 as fiscal sponsor for the New York Review of Architecture, to support development and publication of the Chicago Review of Architecture
Better Streets Chicago
$20,000 for general operating support
Chicago Community Loan Fund
$50,000 to support planning for development of a debt program for existing buildings
Chicago Humanities
$25,000 to support the annual “The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Lecture on Architecture”
Chicago Parks Foundation
$45,000 as fiscal sponsor, to support the Monuments Response Project
Climate Action Museum
$80,000 for general operating support
Community Desk Chicago
$1,080,000 to support CorridorLive! South Shore Facade Restoration Program, with $80,000 over two years for administrative support
Environmental Law & Policy Center
$50,000 to support the advancement of planning, public engagement, and completion of Park 608 in Chicago
Folded Map Project
$100,000 as fiscal sponsor for the Englewood Arts Collective, to support development of the EAC Arts Village Sculpture Park
Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
$94,000 to support the development and publication of a book on Frank Lloyd Wright's work in the Chicago area
Friends of Historic Second Church
$150,000 for general operating support
Friends of Sears Sunken Garden
$473,000 to complete the restoration of the Sears Sunken Garden
Friends of the Parks
$135,000 for general operating support with an additional $15,000 for strategic planning
Glessner House
$60,000 for general operating support
Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation
$100,000 to support tuck pointing work on the Healthy Lifestyle Hub
Greater Chatham Initiative
$75,000 to install a network of rain gardens in Chatham
Institute for Classical Architecture & Art, Chicago-Midwest Chapter
$50,000 to support Chicago ICAA New Heights & Grand Tour Youth Education Program (May 2026–May 2027)
Landmarks Illinois
$75,000 to support the Charles Leeks Fund
Mas Context, NFP
$80,000 for general operating support
Morton Arboretum
$50,000 to support the Chicago Regional Tree Initiative
Opendox
$75,000 as fiscal sponsor for Deem, to support the 2026 Deem Symposium and publication of Deem Journal
The Chicago Community Foundation
$50,000 to support the Elevated Chicago Arts & Culture Strategy
INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Chicago Headline Club Foundation
$80,000 to support FOIA Fest, the FOIA Fest Boot Camp, and the Watchdog Award
Global Center for Journalism and Trauma
$50,000 for the Chicago Journalist Resilience Initiative
International Women's Media Foundation
$100,800 to establish a dedicated Mental Health Newsroom Emergency Fund in Chicago
Local Media Foundation
$155,400 as fiscal sponsor for the New York Times, to support the Local Investigations Fellowship program in Illinois
Panorama Global
$150,000 as fiscal sponsor for the Fund for Alternative Journalism dba Chicago Reader, to support its news investigations and accountability reporting
WTTW
$100,000 to support news investigations
