In 2022, Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE)—under its Together We Heal Creative Place (TWHCP) cultural grant program—awarded 47 community-driven creative placemaking grant projects aimed at promoting racial healing and neighborhood revitalization, recognizing how important it was to invest in the city’s residents.

TWHCP was a response from DCASE and the city’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ) to the need for racial equity and community healing in neighborhoods historically affected by everything from discrimination to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program ended in December 2024, allowing dozens of organizations to show the beauty in their neighborhoods. However, even though those grants have ended, the groups have continued their work, reflecting the wonders in their areas—and, in the process, dispelling misconceptions about neighborhoods that are low-income and underresourced. Interested in the impacts of artist grants such as DCASE, earlier this year I interviewed some of past DCASE past recipients to hear their reflections on lasting effects of the grant and their current work and goals.

North River’s vibrant art project

North River Commission is a non-profit community and economic development corporation for Chicago’s Northwest Side. North River neighborhoods include Albany Park, North Park, Mayfair, Lincoln Square, North Mayfair and Ravenswood Manor. These areas all sport impressive features—including high-quality architecture, two universities and tree-lined residential spots—but do not garner the attention of the more glitzy parts of town.

However, the aforementioned neighborhoods also have one other distinguishing feature: diversity. North River Commission Community Development Specialist Eve Miller said that, according to the latest census, North River is “not only the most diverse in Chicago but, in terms of zip code, in all of Illinois. There are over 90 languages spoken in our neighborhood and we’re a gateway [area] for people coming in from other countries. In fact, my boss’ family migrated there from the Philippines and she’s been there for the past 30 years.”

The Commission received a grant for its project, We Are Albany Park, which focuses on one part of North River and features various artists. “My predecessor, as part of a public-art initiative, decided she wanted to create something that represents the people who live here—and we wanted to use as many artists from the area as we could,” Miller said. “It was actually the brainchild of my predecessor and an artist [Natalia Virafuentes] who coordinates artwork for another nonprofit. We were fortunate that the city realized that there was a gap in creative healing.”

Regarding We Are Albany Park, is a series of murals that reflects the different populations that make up North River. “Our neighborhood has such variety that We Are Albany Park was a way to sort of bring them all together,” according to Miller. “When we created these murals, we didn’t want to focus on any cultural group, but rather the ways that they were brought together. For example, we have one about the working people of Albany Park; it was inspired directly by people who worked at a local laundromat.” With all of the area’s diversity, the mural series “is [also] meant to show the similarities and who makes up Albany Park, like the small business owners, the refugees and [the] youth.”

Virafuentes—whose website describes her as a “mural and interdisciplinary artist,” and whose works seemingly cover the cityscape—talked about her connections with North River Commission and We Are Albany Park. “I lived in Albany Park for a while,” she said. “I thought there were a lot of spaces for murals so I emailed [the commission] one day, asking if I could make spaces prettier for free. They suggested reaching out to the businesses. From there, I got opportunities to paint and I got to connect with other people in the neighborhood. Now, I provide referrals—like, if businesses have a particular artist or type of art in mind, I can help them.” Eventually, Virafuentes coordinated the artists and eventually made her own artistic mark in the series as well.

As for the murals, Virafuentes utilized different approaches for the artwork, sometimes utilizing artists who directly reflected their subjects. “For the mural with [depictions of] refugees and immigrants, I chose artists who are immigrants,” she said. “And I thought that, with their cool styles, it would be a [great] collaboration between them. Then, we did one for Asian Americans, one for senior citizens, and those about businesses. It was about representation of the community, and there was definitely input from the people. We had at least two or three meetings with them.” In sum, the artwork showcases inspirations and tributes to the neighborhood—from the small-business owners to the artists who painted their likenesses. In the process, they made the ultimate collaboration.

A recent mural walk yielded some surprises for the visitors. “People said, ‘We don’t come to Albany Park because there are just restaurants. We didn’t know about these giant murals of huge hands working on dough,’” Miller stated. “We’re hoping that the murals bring more attention to the area and hope that people will want to walk around. It’s a super-walkable neighborhood and we plan to have a large celebration to bring people out. We want people to see what Albany Park has to offer.”

Miller is optimistic that the project continues—and for its potential of multiple benefits. “We hope to have other funding soon so we can have other projects,” she said. “Also, we’ve been talking with people to hopefully have some short films about the project. Hopefully, we’ll [ultimately] have more people stay here and provide opportunities for those who are here.”

Front Porch gives residents a seat at the artistic table

Few people know more about the South Side community of Austin better than Front Porch Arts Center Founder/Executive Director Keli (pronounced “Kah-LEE”) Stewart, MFA.

A lifelong resident of the area, Stewart knows about the artistic beauty and potential of this neighborhood’s residents. Austin, like North River, is an underrepresented area in Chicago; located on the city’s West Side, it is composed primarily of African American/Black individuals. 

Front Porch/Free Street Theater also received a grant for the teen theater and storytelling workshops. In June 2024, Front Porch celebrated the opening of a new physical space dedicated to the arts in Austin, using grant funds. The space has already hosted music performances, workshops for children, storytelling hours and a Juneteenth art show that featured work from eight artists, including 29th Ward Ald. Christopher Taliaferro. 

Stewart, a lifelong artist, explained how the grant came about: “I had participated in Gallery 37 for a number of years, which had been transformed into After School Matters [in 2000]—and that actually was the root for this grant. Through Chicago’s Gallery 37 [Center for the Arts], I worked with Free Street Theater. I saw the cultural spaces and outlets, but we had to leave our neighborhoods; 30 years later, we largely still have to leave the neighborhood in order to access art—and that’s a tragedy. People talk about food deserts but I think art is a source of nourishment as well. So living in an art desert, so to speak, impacts us on every level and at every age.” 

“I trained as an English professor and poet, and went to Columbia College and Chicago State [University]. I had the opportunity to study with so many influential artists—but having to make the trek while teaching really made me question things,” she continued. “It really put in me a deep passion to change and add to the art landscape in our neighborhood. And so Front Porch was founded in 2019 with that very mission: to empower residents through the arts.” 

As for the organization’s name, Stewart said, “Back in the day, when I was sitting on my grandmother’s front porch in [the area of] Lawndale, I told her that I was going to grad school to major in Black studies. She said, ‘Well, you can sit out on the front porch and learn everything you need to know about Black people.’ So we wanted to take that concept, that idea, and put it in the forefront. Of course, people joke that Black people stay out on the front porch.”

Front Porch has hosted a variety of events and performed in venues that vary from the expected to the unusual. “We’ve performed activations in backyards, partner spaces, gardens and so forth,” Stewart said. “When we applied for the grant, it was for the art of storytelling for a youth program. We wanted them to sit at the forefront of their own areas. So now we do all sorts of things, whether it’s West Side Stories, which is a storytelling platform; or the Front Porch Reading Series, when we invite writers to showcase their art. And with the Together We Heal grant, we [recently] worked with 10 local youths from the ages of 16 to 19; they came here twice a week to study with George Bailey, a former West Sider and a former Columbia College professor who has roots in Free Street Theater.” The grant also allowed students to receive stipends.

Feedback has been positive, according to Stewart. “There aren’t as many arts options in Austin as in other neighborhoods,” Stewart said. “People are saying, ‘Yes—we need more spaces like this’ or ‘I enjoyed being able to access a program like this in my neighborhood.’ The youth were actually upset when the program ended. That let me know about the urgency and necessity of a program and space like this.”

And Stewart’s passion is evident. Asked about what her grand plans would be if she had unlimited funds, she replied, “Do not make me cry. We’re in this space and it’s only 1,200 square feet. What should be the office is a store because we need a revenue stream. We’re kinda bursting at the seams. But if I had that money, I would create an arts-and-cultural space that could serve as an incubator for other things—whether it’s arts through workforce development or classes that are free to the neighborhood; it would be a calendar of events that the community could access for free. It would be a destination. It would be a safe space—and a healing space. It would also help to bring in people from other neighborhoods [to dispel] stereotypes some people have about us that are rooted in anti-Blackness, to be honest.”

All in all, community-based artist grant programs like TWHCP have made an impact. They provide support for artist’s visions to revitalize neighborhoods, inspire positive change for the benefit of the community, and to be a catalyst for dreaming of possibilities.

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