Amid major questions about how to sustain the creative industries in a post-COVID inflationary economy, Chicago’s proposed 2025 cultural budget is being closely watched by some arts advocates.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson Budget 2025 is calling for approximately $73 million for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) for next year. Last fall, the City Council approved more than $84 million for the department. However, fewer grants came in than forecast, according to the city’s budget department, so DCASE actually received about $66 million, according to this year’s budget documents.
The budget, presented at a public hearing last week, appears on paper to give DCASE an increase of about 11% for fiscal year 2025. But compared to what the council passed last fall, this proposed budget actually represents a decrease, say some. The budget cycle comes as theaters, dance groups, performing arts agencies and more try to confront shifting philanthropic support and the audience is dwindling.
“Just doing a year-over-year comparison between what was passed last year and what was proposed for this year, DCASE’s budget has decreased,” said Geoffrey Cubbage, policy and budget analyst at Better Government Association.
DCASE is responsible for major events such as Taste of Chicago that attract locals and tourists.
Megan Nagorzanski/Chicago Sun-Times
DCASE is responsible for major events such as Taste of Chicago and the Chicago Blues Festival that draw locals and tourists to downtown. The department has also increasingly become a crucial source of funding for small and medium-sized artists, administering grants that allow many in Chicago’s creative scene to continue their work.
“It is funding that is accessible and available to the breadth of our extraordinary cultural communities,” said Claire Rice, executive director of Arts Alliance Illinois, which has advocated for the continuation of DCASE grant programs. “It is a statement of values for our city that public financing is part of the budget. They recognize arts, culture and creativity as a true economic, civic and social boon to Chicago.”
When asked by WBEZ whether this year’s proposed budget would allow DCASE to maintain current levels of work, a spokeswoman said in an email that the department will not comment on the budget until it is approved.
DCASE funding comes from the city’s special events and hotel taxes, plus a mix of public and private grants. Because of the way the department is funded, it has not been affected by the citywide hiring freeze, allowing DCASE’s full-time employee count to remain stable over the next fiscal year. That’s good news for a department that has been caused by high staff turnover.
While making her case to the council on Friday, DCASE Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth (who Johnson was appointed in March) described next year’s budget as a boost. She said the additional resources are needed to maintain the department’s support of individual artists and arts organizations in the city, while also addressing rising costs for large-scale events, especially as COVID relief dollars dry up.
“To maintain special events and festivals, and then also recognize that because (American Rescue Plan Act) funds are being spent and already allocated … the need to support artists exists. So that’s where it comes from… the increase,” Hedspeth told councilors during the nearly three-hour hearing.
DCASE Commissioner Clineé Hedspeth described her department’s proposed budget as a boost needed to support artists and keep up with the rising costs of large-scale events.
Arts advocacy groups are also trying to parse what the proposed budget will mean for the city’s cultural sector, especially when it comes to DCASE grant programs.
Rice of the Arts Alliance said her organization is “cautiously optimistic” that the same level of funding for DCASE direct grants will be available next year.
“We are optimistic that they will be able to maintain grant funding even in this extremely challenging year, which has been our primary goal,” Rice said. “We are happy that we can get as much money as possible into the hands of the city’s art and culture makers.”
DCASE leaders said during Friday’s hearing that maintaining the grant programs is a priority.
“Hopefully with this increase we will be able to maintain and not decrease the number of grants we have had over the last several years,” Meida McNeal, DCASE deputy commissioner for cultural grants and resources, told councilors. “In this way we continue to support both individual artists and art organizations.”
In 2024, DCASE awarded just over $1 million through its Individual Artists Program, a significant increase from the $496,300 awarded through the same initiative in 2019. During the hearing, Hedspeth said more than half of the beneficiaries were first-time applicants and 60% were in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods.
In total, the department awarded approximately $8 million in grants to approximately 500 recipients in 2024.
During Friday’s hearing, council members said they want DCASE to bring in more money for the city through things like special event permits and the film industry.
“We have to figure out a way to make sure we get money back from these big events,” said Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd Ward. “I think you could contribute more to the operating budget, and that’s something we really need to emphasize.”
Hedspeth said the department is looking for ways to generate more revenue, including a 10% increase in rent for space at the downtown Cultural Center, which DCASE manages. DCASE also wants to make the city more of a film destination.
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.