Ingenuity State of the Arts Progress Report 2015-2016 | Page 63

funding

CREATIVE SCHOOLS FUND
The Creative Schools Fund—created to
fulfill the goals outlined in the CPS Arts
Education Plan (Goals 6C and 6D)—is an
external, independent grant-making fund
administered by Ingenuity. The Fund serves
as one of the Creative Schools Initiative’s
supports, incentivizing schools to prioritize
arts education. It is the only grant-making
entity in Chicago solely dedicated to providing
direct financial support to CPS schools for
the arts.
The Creative Schools Fund (CSF) directs funds
to schools that have a principal-approved Arts
Liaison and have received a category rating
on the Certification. The Fund encourages
collaboration among school leaders, Arts
Liaisons, and classroom instructors, and
supports instructor-designed programs.
Each participating school automatically
receives Arts Essentials funds for arts
materials and supplies. These schools are also
eligible to apply for larger, competitive grants

to fund larger materials purchases, facility
renovations that benefit arts instruction,
and programs provided by community
arts partners. In the past three years, Arts
Essentials funds have ranged between $500–
$2,000 per school annually. In 2015–16, the
Fund disbursed $812,000 in Arts Essentials to
the 580 schools that completed a survey, and
an additional $1,590,404 in larger grants to
156 schools, mostly for work with partners to
supplement and diversify the arts programs
available to their students.
CSF grants between approximately $5,000–
$15,000 were distributed across CPS networks
and student grade levels. More than 25,000
students engaged in arts instruction with
the support of CSF grants, an average of 156
students per grant. The majority of programs
supported by CSF grants are in theatre and
dance, which, as noted on the following page,
are the disciplines for which there are fewer
teachers in the district.

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