Revitalizing Religious Properties as Neighborhood Arts Centers is 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. The program will:

• 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.

Inquiries about South Side Artists in Sacred Spaces can be sent to Sarah Jones at sjones@sacredplaces.org.

South Side Artists in Sacred Spaces is supported by a Chicago Arts Recovery Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The project is 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 Fundes in the amount of $235,000, representing 100% of total funding.