South Side Artists in Sacred Spaces

South Side Artists in Sacred Spaces was a collaborative project of Partners for Sacred Places, Arts Alliance Illinois, and Bustling Spaces, LLC – working in close collaboration with religious leaders in Chicago’s South Side – to address the acute need for affordable, accessible space for neighborhood artists, exacerbated by the pandemic. Program components were:

• Connect congregations with available space and the need for additional ongoing revenue to artists in need of affordable, accessible space for rehearsals, performances, classes, administrative needs, and other programming.
• Provide participating congregations with mid-size capital grants to improve accessibility and make their spaces better suited for the arts.
• Provide participating artists and arts organizations with rental assistance.
• Provide training for arts organizations and congregations to develop mission-aligned, mutually beneficial, and sustainable space-sharing partnerships
• Create a model that can be expanded to other neighborhoods across the city.

South Side Artists in Sacred Spaces was supported by a Chicago Arts Recovery Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The project was supported by federal assistance listing number 21.0237 awarded to Arts Alliance Illinois by the US Treasury through the American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds in the amount of $235,000, representing 100% of total funding.

SASS in the News

“Chicago church serves as a creators’ sanctuary for the South Side Artists in Sacred Spaces”, Chicago’s CBS 2, May 9, 2024

What happens when an artist and a church collaborate?, The Rundown: Chicago News Podcast, WBEZ, April 25, 2024

Artists and Sacred Spaces, a Natural Fit on Chicago’s South Side, American Theatre, December 21, 2023

The Gift of Space, South Side Weekly, September 27, 2023

South Side Program Helps Artists and Houses Of Worship Support Each Other, Block Club Chicago, February 7, 2024