Links Hall

Founded in 1978, Links Hall encourages artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining its own performance venue and providing flexible programming for research, development, and presentation of new work in the performing arts. Links Hall works with artists across all disciplines and at all stages in their careers who are committed to the organization's core values of mutual respect, the power of partnership, and the importance of risk-taking and experimentation in the arts. With this International Connections Fund award, Chicago-based Links Hall retraces the paths of the city's founder, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, and the Great Migration, connecting Chicago, New Orleans, and Haiti through dance, in partnership with dance companies and artists in each location.

Links Hall is an arts service organization that supports performing artists by providing residencies; performance and curation opportunities; professional development and trainings; and financial assistance (low-cost space rentals, grants, fiscal sponsorship, etc.). It houses two studio and performance spaces and attracts 6,000 people to its performances each year.  Links Hall has a growing international reputation as an incubator for original, multidisciplinary performance art. A MacArthur Award recognizes organizations that have impactful programs, that are well-managed, and that are at an inflection point, where they are likely to grow either in size or influence. Links Hall will allocate most of the awarded funds to its cash reserve, while a smaller portion will underwrite critical technology infrastructure and facility upgrades.

Links Hall is an experimental arts incubation and performance space that encourages innovation by providing the space for artists to develop and present new work. This funding supports Links Hall in an exchange with Stichting Doek in the Netherlands, which hosts an improvisational music festival, Doek Festival, every year in Amsterdam. This exchange will extend the festival to Berlin and Chicago, introduce improvisational dance to the festival for the first time, and attract an international audience to festival performances. Grant funds support direct project expenses: travel, accommodations, artist fees, and festival costs. It is recommended as part of the International Connections Fund.

Links Hall is an experimental dance and performance space on the north side of Chicago. This grant will support Arte no es fácil (Art ain’t easy), a performance series at Links Hall from January – March 2012 that will present original multi-disciplinary art work that is produced as a result of 10 collaborations of emerging artists from Chicago and Havana, Cuba. In turn, these works will be presented at the Havana Biennial in May-June 2012.

In support of your organization’s project "Chicago Dancemakers Forum" for support to build public visibility, diversify funding base, and stabilize core programs (over three years).