University of Chicago, IL Arts Council
Type: Policy
Status: Ongoing
Source File: http://artscouncil.uchicago.edu/mission.shtml
Description:
Mission Statement
The Arts Council exists to foster the arts at the University of Chicago. It understands the Arts as integral to the University's educational objectives, to the cultural vitality of the campus, to the University's role in the city of Chicago and to its national and international reputation. The Council works to sustain the general visibility of the Arts and to advocate the Arts within discussions both about the University's future and about the future of higher education in America. The Council seeks to improve the communication, planning, and collaboration among the individual arts programs on our campus; to strengthen connections among the academic programs, the co-curricular programs, and the professional arts organizations; and to deepen the cultural connections between the University and the city.
Arts Community
At Chicago, the creative arts and academic inquiry reinforce and enrich one another. Our Humanities Division has a first-class faculty and some of the most prestigious programs in the nation for the academic study of the arts and humanities. In the undergraduate College and in graduate programs in the Humanities, courses are offered in creative writing, theater and performance, studio art, film, and music. Our students and faculty are adept at making connections across texts and disciplines and between theory and practice - they are well equipped to reach over the boundaries that separate media.
The University supports students' co-curricular pursuit of the arts through over 75 student groups on campus. Student arts organizations are burgeoning; they range from the oldest continuous film society in America, Doc Films, and various ethnic dance societies to University Theater and several literary magazines.
The campus is home to distinguished professional arts organizations such as the Smart Museum, Court Theatre, the Oriental Institute Museum, the University of Chicago Presents, and the Renaissance Society. These professional arts institutions enrich the University's research and teaching missions. They are also a crucial component of our bridge-building to the communities we belong to, reaching out to both the South Side neighborhoods nearby and the city of Chicago at large. It is our aspiration to strengthen these bonds as we carve out an ever more prominent place for the arts on our campus.
Grant Program Overview
To encourage arts activities on campus and the enrichment of the University community’s cultural life, the Arts Council sponsors three grant programs:
- UChicagoArts Grants — for substantial, collaborative, public projects requesting funding between $1,500 and $10,000
- Student Fine Arts Fund — for small projects of RSOs or individual students requesting funding of less than $1,500
- Arts Council Summer Fellowships — awards of $1,500 for individual student summer projects
In addition, the Council provides resources for enhanced use of the arts in the classroom:
- Curricular Innovation Grants — grants from $2,000 to $5,000 intended for the development, enhancement, or renewal of arts courses
- Course Arts Resource Fund — grants of up to $500 for the integration of arts into courses
The review process is competitive. Generally, the Arts Council will be able to support only one project per year per applicant organization/individual.
Final reports will be required following the completion of projects funded with the support of a UChicagoArts grant. Further proposals from the same applicants will not be considered until the report regarding the previous Arts Council award has been submitted.
