Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation supports music, theater, dance, museums, historical societies and public television and radio media in the Chicago metropolitan area.
IP TAKE: This is a great foundation for large and small arts organizations, but general operating support and unrestricted funding are rare. This funder accepts inquiries and grant requests and posts due dates on its website.
PROFILE: Elizabeth F. Cheney, a life-long Chicago area resident and supporter of the arts, established a foundation in her name, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, shortly before her death in 1985. Cheney was the great-granddaughter of Chicago pioneer Philo Carpenter and the granddaughter of Henry M. Hooker, founder of one of Chicago's earliest drug stores and the Hooker Glass and Paint Manufacturing Company. She was an avid collector of art, books, and antiques, and she donated many pieces of her collection to museums. It was Miss Cheney’s wish to support artistic and cultural endeavors in the Chicago metropolitan area through her foundation. The foundation aims to support “artistic achievement in presentation or performance rather than education enrichment or outreach.” Grantmaking areas of interest music, theater, dance, historical societies and museums. The foundation has also supported television and radio broadcasting. In 2017 the foundation announced that it was spending down its assets and expected to end grantmaking in three to five years.
In its final rounds of funding, the Cheney Foundation will focus on supporting Chicago area arts organizations that “do exciting and challenging work and operate in a fiscally responsible and disciplined manner.” Past grantees will not be eligible for funding.
The average Cheney grant is between $1,000 and $40,000, but in a few instances grants have reached about $150,000. The foundation has been giving over $1 million annually. Past grantees include Joffrey Ballet, Steppenwolf Theater, Porchlight Theater, the Art Institute of Chicago, Haymarket Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Third Coast Baroque and the Illinois Arts Alliance. Grantseekers can view a list of past grantees on the funder’s website. The Board meets four times each year and proposal deadlines are as follows: museums and literary arts on February 1st, music on April 1st, dramatic arts on August 1st, and dance on October 1st.
The Cheney Foundation does accept unsolicited grant requests from organizations based in and serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It accepts mail, email, and phone inquiries. Inquiries, proposals and general questions should be directed to Elisabeth Geraghty at egeraghty@cheneyfoundation.org or by phone at 312-782-1242.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
