MacArthur awarded $260,000 in new grants to help diverse Chicago organizations increase their international connections with eight countries. The grants are the second set of awards from the Foundation’s International Connections Fund, which will provide a total of $1 million in grants, in recognition of MacArthur’s 30th anniversary.

“Chicago is a global city and MacArthur works in 60 countries around the world,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “We want to help organizations in Chicago connect with their counterparts in other counties. Interest in this new Fund is strong and will help build bridges of understanding between our city and country and many diverse cultures around the world.”

The following organizations will receive grants from MacArthur’s International Connections Fund:

  • Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) – A grant of $15,000 will help support the organization’s participation at the “Insolent Noise Festival” in Pisa, Italy, in December.
  • Chicago Zoological Society – A $50,000 grant will help the Brookfield Zoo launch a conservation leadership development program between teenagers in Chicago and the South American nation of Guyana.
  • The Goodman Theatre – A $30,000 grant will support the newly established Eugene O’Neill festival featuring international productions of his work from Holland and Brazil.
  • Hooked on Drums - A $15,000 grant will support workshops for 40 Chicago youth with master drummer Billy Nankouma Konate of Guinea.
  • Kalapriya Foundation – A $25,000 grant will help Kalapriya support the Chicago-area and Illinois portion of a national tour of Rupayan, a world-renowned musical ensemble from Rajasthan in northern India.
  • National Museum of Mexican ArtA $50,000 grant will support artist exchanges between Chicago-area artists and artisans and those from the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca resulting in traveling exhibits, public discussions, and educational programs that will be held at the Museum and in institutions in Mexico.
  • Old Town School of Folk MusicA $50,000 grant will help establish the Folk Arts Exchange Program. Teaching artists from Mexico, Russia, and India will teach and perform at the School, while Chicago faculty will travel to do the same at institutions in each of those countries.
  • Puerto Rican Arts AllianceA $25,000 grant will help expand the Taino Project, which teaches Chicago Public Schools students about the culture and history of indigenous people of the Caribbean by allowing Kelvyn Park High School students to travel to Puerto Rico to learn from anthropologists and archaeologists about historical and culture sites on the island.

Support from the International Connections Fund is available to nonprofit organizations in the Chicago area that have received a grant within the last three years from MacArthur or through the MacArthur Funds established at the Driehaus Foundation, the Prince Charitable Trusts, or through the New Communities Program directed by LISC/Chicago. Preference is given to those proposals that support a new or expanded program, promote exchanges with one of MacArthur’s focus countries (China, India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia), enhance or complement other work supported by the Foundation, and require funding that the organization may not otherwise be able to generate. The next round of grants will be awarded in December; proposals are due by November 1.