WE SUPPORT 5 TUITION-FREE CONSERVATORIES, ALUMNI, & COMMUNITY BUILDING PROGRAMS
The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) receives funding from the Chicago Public School district on a per-pupil basis, which supports its academic offerings.The Foundation raises funds to ensure ChiArts’ talented Scholar-Artists have access to opportunities that help them thrive as creators, thinkers, and community members. Art programs funded by the Foundation include the School’s Music, Dance, Theater, Visual Arts, and Creative Writing conservatories. Our fundraising is accomplished through the generosity of individuals, corporate and foundation grants, and signature events that celebrate the creativity and diversity of the ChiArts community. Pre-professional arts training at this level would not be possible without the help of our supporters.
As Chicago’s only tuition-free, pre-professional arts high school, ChiArts and the Foundation aim to disrupt historical biases and inequities within the arts field and the greater community. In the scope of arts programs, ChiArts is the only pre-professional arts high school that actively recruits novice-level students who may not have had access to formal arts training but exhibit a natural ability and desire to hone their skills.
The Foundation ensures the lasting legacy of the Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts conservatories. Our work also includes developing community and arts partnerships, supporting outreach and admissions through external programming and providing professional development support and networks for alumni and current students. For more information about ChiArts, visit chiarts.org.
KERFUFFLE! CHIARTS FOUNDATION'S ANNUAL BENEFIT
On April 27, 2023, The ChiArts Foundation hosted its annual spring benefit Kerfuffle! at Morgan Manufacturing to support the Music, Theatre, Dance, Creative Writing, and Visual Arts conservatories at The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts). We're absolutely thrilled to announce Kerfuffle! 2023 has raised more than $425,000 for ChiArts' five arts conservatories. Thank you to our incredible co-chairs Amisha Rigia and Arnett Faulker, event honoree Susan McKeever and The McKeever Family, our 2023 sponsors, guests, ChiArts faculty, ChiArts alums, scholar-artist performers, and our parent volunteers for making this year's celebration so extraordinary.
ChiArts’ five arts conservatories are 100% donor-funded through the Foundation. We raise over $3 million annually for ChiArts to champion a tuition-free model and sustain a public arts high school for Chicago’s youth! Click here for event page.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE FEATURES TRAVON WILLIAMS, CHIARTS DANCE '18
Chicago native Travon M. Williams among Ailey II dancers to
perform in University Park
perform in University Park
While attending The Chicago High School for the Arts, Travon M. Williams hoped to eventually join Ailey II, which is billed as The Next Generation of Dance.
“When I was in high school, we wrote letters and we couldn’t open them until graduation. In my freshman letter I wrote, ‘I hope you get into Juilliard or Ailey II.’ Actually I got wait-listed for Juilliard and I’m in Ailey II,” said Williams, who is in his second season with Ailey II.
"It was a crazy, full circle moment. I was grateful that I worked hard to get to where I am, and I’m grateful for all the help that I had to get where I am and the training that I had as well.”
CHICAGO MAGAZINE FEATURES RAVYN LENAE, CHIARTS MUSIC '17
Ravyn Lenae Savors Her Moment
More than 90 minutes after Ravyn Lenae’s homecoming show in June at Metro, you could find the 23-year-old neo-soul singer-songwriter still swarmed by fans outside as she took time for a photo and conversation with each. “I did that every single show on tour. It’s a way to really humanize a moment between the artist and supporters,” says Lenae, who grew up in West Pullman and now lives in Los Angeles. “I had a moment onstage where I thought: I’ve opened for artists so many times here. For it to be my show, and for people to know the words, was a full-circle moment for me.”
At this point in Lenae’s unconventional career, no moment is taken for granted. Already a seemingly fully formed talent in 2015 when she dropped her first single (the soulful “Greetings”) and was featured on Monte Booker’s “Baby,” she was signed by Atlantic Records at just 16 while still a student at the Chicago High School for the Arts.
WTTW FEATURES SHAQUI REED, CHIARTS VISUAL ARTS '13
The Last Word: Shaqui Reed, Visual Artist and Teacher on Black Creativity
An exhibit celebrating Black creativity is open from now until April 17 at the Museum of Science and Industry.
The “Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition” consists of more than 100 pieces from Black artists around the world. One of them is Shaqui Reed, who’s also a visual arts teacher for The Chicago High School for the Arts. She gives us the last word on Black creativity.
BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO FEATURES ELIJAH DANIEL SMITH,
CHIARTS MUSIC '13
CHIARTS MUSIC '13
Composer Elijah Daniel Smith Comes Home For Chicago Symphony Orchestra Premiere: ‘A Dream Come True’
CHICAGO — Elijah Daniel Smith grew up with music in the city, going to concerts at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and studying classical music at the Chicago High School for the Arts.
Now, the composer is premiering an original piece in his hometown for the first time, opening the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW: Homecoming concert Monday.
“Scions of an Atlas,” a 21st century take on a baroque concerto-grosso performed by a 13-piece ensemble, was commissioned by the orchestra to kick off its 2021-22 season. Other composers with Chicago ties will present music Monday, including Ted Hearne, Nathalie Joachim and Jessie Montgomery, who begins a three-year tenure as the orchestra’s Mead composer-in-residence this season.
It will be a rare opportunity for Smith to debut a piece in Chicago, and in front of family, friends and teachers who supported his career. READ MORE