Two Chicago nonprofits serving the arts joining forces to form one organization

Two Chicago nonprofits serving arts organizations throughout Illinois are combining to create what they describe as one of the “largest volunteer corps serving the arts” in the country.

Lawyers for the Creative Arts (LCA), based in the Loop, announced on Wednesday that it will acquire the operations of the Arts & Business Council of Chicago, including the council’s signature Business Volunteers for the Arts program, according to a news release.

“We’ll now be able to provide a simpler, one-stop shop,” said Jan Feldman, Lawyers for the Creative Arts executive director, who will continue in his role.

In most other cities, similar groups for the arts have operated under a single corporate structure, he said.

Lawyers for the Creative Arts offers pro bono legal service to arts organizations in Illinois. The Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC) offers education and consulting services to artists and arts organizations.

In Chicago and across the U.S., visitors to cultural institutions have returned but not to their pre-pandemic levels and other challenges have surfaced.

Last August, Chicago’s storied Steppenwolf Theatre announced it would layoff 12% of its staff due to dwindling revenue and attendance. Lookingglass Theatre “paused” all operations last June after 35 years, laid off staff and launched a $2.5 million fundraising initiative. But in March, Lookingglass announced that it met its fundraising goal. It also unveiled a new artistic director, business plan and ensemble members.

“There is a growing — rather than waning — sense of financial and operating crisis in the arts,” said an October 2023 report from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). Many organizations are in crisis because of “dwindling ticket sales, increased costs and private donations that failed to keep pace with inflation.”

Arts organizations are also grappling with burn out among staff and board members, difficulty with hiring, uncertain revenue streams that hinder financial planning and other challenges, Feldman said.

The Arts & Business Council’s funding has declined recently, Feldman said, but the two organizations had discussed joining forces years ago. “It’s really an idea whose time has come in Chicago, just as it has in other cities,” he said.

Kristin Larsen, executive director of Arts & Business Council, will help with the transition through May 10. Larsen is the organization’s one full-time staff member.

Founded in 1985, A&BC has assisted thousands of arts groups. Its volunteers have provided over 100,000 hours of free business consulting valued at over $14 million, according to a news release.

In the last five years, 2,200 participants have joined A&BC programs and the organization “provided over $1 million in pro bono services to more than 70 arts organizations throughout Illinois,” Larsen said.

Lawyers for the Creative Arts was founded in 1972 by a group of Chicago lawyers to help with the legal and business needs of artists and arts organizations. It has connected tens of thousands of clients with volunteer lawyers from most of the state’s largest firms.

LCA has worked with organizations such as the Goodman Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance and Marwen, as well as Forward Momentum Chicago, the Hideout and the Chopin Theatre.

It helped Forward Momentum Chicago, a dance education organization, obtain nonprofit status, said founder and Executive Director Pierre Lockett. LCA held workshops and walked him through the application process.

“My expertise is dance and dance instruction,” said Lockett, a former dancer with the Joffrey Ballet. “My entire background is artistic. When you’re trying to start a nonprofit, you don’t realize all the components necessary to make that work.”

LCA also offers educational seminars, workshops and clinics for artists and arts groups that are growing in demand. Last year, those programs reached 4,000 participants, compared to about 2,500 before the pandemic, Feldman said.