Oak Park Area Arts Council
ActivePublic CharityArts, Culture & Humanities
About Oak Park Area Arts Council
Advancing the arts and enriching the Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park communities by empowering artists, strengthening arts organizations, and bringing art to public spaces.
Focus Areas
arts fundingpublic artmuralssculpturegallery exhibitionsarts scholarshipsarts education
Who They Fund
general public/communitiesnonprofit organizationsunderserved or unspecified populations
Funding Style
general operating supportunrestricted supportbroad-purpose grantmaking
About Oak Park Area Arts Council
Oak Park Area Arts Council’s giving is built around arts activity in Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park, with support reaching performers, museums, theaters, visual artists, and arts education groups. In 2023, the council made a series of $10,000 grants to local organizations, including Wonder Works Children's Museum, Winifred Haun Dance, Oak Park Festival Theatre, and the Historical Society of Oak Park River Forest. Those awards sit alongside other support for dance, music, storytelling, and arts institutions across the same community. The council’s work is organized around public-facing arts use: general operating and project support for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, commissioned murals, sculpture installations, and merit-based scholarships for high school seniors pursuing arts-related degrees. It also backs arts-based projects that strengthen community life in the Tri-Village area. Its profile reflects a local public charity making broad-purpose grants rather than individual awards or program-related investments. Recent grants show a consistent emphasis on organizations rooted in Oak Park itself, with additional support going to nearby River Forest, Chicago, and Cicero when the project fits the council’s arts mission. The pattern is local, arts-centered, and oriented toward both institutions and public art in the places it serves.
What Oak Park Area Arts Council Funds
Arts institutions are a clear priority. The council gave $10,000 to Dominican University Performing Arts Center in River Forest and $10,000 to Oak Park Festival Theatre, both listed for charitable purposes in 2023. Music and performance also appear throughout the grant list. Examples include $7,500 to Symphony of Oak Park River Forest, $6,000 to Spectrum Choral Society, and $5,500 to Chicago a Cappella, showing support for choral and orchestral work in the region. The council also backs arts education and creative youth development. It gave $7,500 to Ping Providing Instruments for the Next Generation and $5,000 to United Cerebral Palsy Seguin of Greater Chicago, while its scholarship program supports high school seniors pursuing arts-related degrees. Public art is another defined area, with programs for mini murals, sculpture, and mural commissions that place art in visible civic settings.
How Oak Park Area Arts Council Gives
Typical grants are modest and clustered around the mid-thousands: the p25 is $5,000, the median is $6,000, and the p75 is $7,500. The 2023 grant list also includes repeated $10,000 awards at the top end. The council is a public charity and gives unrestricted or general operating support as well as project support. Its recent grants are concentrated in one year and one state, with all listed recipients in Illinois, which matches its local scope of giving. The active programs show some opportunities accept unsolicited requests, especially ArtsFunds and the scholarship and mural-related programs.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$153K
Total Assets
$281K
Total Revenue
$443K
Total Expenses
$387K
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $5K and $8K, with a median of $6K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$6K
75th Percentile
$8K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
About 100% of grants go to recipients in IL.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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