National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman still prefers the Steppenwolf, even after his HUGE slip-up when he basically said the Steppenwolf and Goodman are better than whatever theater there is in Peoria, IL. (Well, he said he didn't know of a theater in Peoria and he wanted to fund the kind of art at the Steppenwolf and Goodman. Close enough.)
Rocco Responds
Illinois Arts Council Gets Shafted In 2010 Budget
In craptastic but unsurprising news, the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) got kicked in the proverbial balls by the 2010 Illinois budget. Its $7.8 million allocation is 51% less than that in the 2008 budget, which, thanks to Blago’s veto of the General Assembly’s approved $23.1 million appropriation, was $15.2 million. For a good explanation of that mess, check out this Gaper’s Block interview with Illinois Arts Alliance Executive Director Ra Joy from last spring.
IL Arts Groups Awarded $1M As Part Of Stimulus
The National Endowment for the Arts announced the 631 recipients of $29,775,000 in direct grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Twenty-four Illinois organizations will receive a total of $1,025,000, with all but $100,000 being given to twenty-one Chicago- and Evanston-based groups.

