Richard H. Driehaus Foundation

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation (Driehaus) has been committed to the arts sector since its founding in 1992 by entrepreneur and investment fund manager Richard H. Driehaus. In addition, Driehaus makes grants in fields such as architecture and design, economic opportunity for the working poor, and investigative reporting. For nearly 15 years, Driehaus has operated the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation (the Fund), which re-grants MacArthur Foundation funds to provide general operating awards, professional development opportunities, and technical support to arts organizations in Chicago with annual budgets less than $500,000. This award renews support for the Fund.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation has been committed to the arts since its founding in 1992 by entrepreneur and investment fund manager Richard H. Driehaus. It has been a partner with MacArthur in arts and culture grantmaking since 2003, annually providing general operating support for more than 200 arts and culture organizations with budgets under $500,000. As part of its general operating support to the Driehaus Foundation, since 2008 MacArthur has made a Professional Development Fund available that awards 30 to 40 grantees funding to attend conferences, workshops, or residencies, or to obtain training. This grant provides additional support to the Professional Development Fund, allowing an additional 35 grantees per year to pursue professional development activities. It also provides funding for individualized assistance to another 50 grantees per year in the areas of board development and training (2016) and marketing (2017).

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation has been committed to the arts sector since its founding in 1992 by entrepreneur and investment fund manager Richard H. Driehaus. The Driehaus Foundation has been a partner with MacArthur in conducting its arts and culture grantmaking since 2003, supporting more than 200 organizations annually with budgets under $500,000. Since 2008, MacArthur has offered additional small grants for professional development for grantees in the MacArthur Fund at Driehaus portfolio, assisting 30 to 40 grantees a year with funding to attend conferences, workshops, and residencies, or to obtain other training. This grant expands the Professional Development Fund to provide funding for the full cost of approximately 50 professional development requests and social media training for up to 60 grantee organizations.

This grant renews support for the MacArthur Fund for Performing Arts Venue (PAV) Licensing (“the Fund”) at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. While the Fund was used in the past to help arts organizations make improvements necessary to obtain city licenses to allow performances to take place in their facility, this grant will expand its scope to include facility upgrades that address health and safety issues that are not license-related or improve the space’s usability as a performing arts venue. This Fund is available to small and mid-sized performing arts organizations (operating budgets under $2 million) in Chicago to secure proper licensing, improve the health and safety of spaces for staff and audiences, and ensure the ongoing viability of these organizations.

The Driehaus Foundation has had a commitment to the arts sector since it was started in 1992 by entrepreneur and investment fund manager Richard H. Driehaus. This grant renews the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Driehaus and the Small Theatre and Dance Group Program, which supports small arts and culture organizations (with annual budgets under $500,000) in the Chicago metropolitan region. The re-granting arrangement was established to sustain the Foundation’s longstanding commitment to small arts and cultural organizations in Chicago and to support these organizations with the technical and organizational development assistance often needed by smaller and/or newer organizations.