Chicago’s budget gap – and impact on the arts: The Rundown

WBEZ · Bianca Cseke · September 3, 2026

Good afternoon! It’s Thursday, and my cats have been entertained by the loud cicadas that hang out by my living room windows. Looks like lots of Chicagoans have noticed the noisy insects this summer. Here’s what you need to know today. 1. Brandon Johnson wants to be an arts mayor. How does Chicago’s spending stack up? Three years into Mayor Brandon Johnson’s term, as the city heads into its fall budget season and gears up for a mayoral election, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times asked advocates and the mayor himself about the city’s commitment to the arts. My colleagues also crunched the numbers to see how Chicago’s budget compares. Across the country’s five largest cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix), Chicago was the only one to cut funding for its local arts agency during its most recent budget cycle. And while its spending dwarfs that of the larger Los Angeles area and trails only behind New York in per capita arts dollars, the pressure is mounting on city leaders to do more, my colleague Courtney Kueppers reports. “I think local governments really need to get creative about funding the arts and to really look at new, interesting, dynamic ways to figure out how to increase those resources,” said Erin Harkey, Chicago’s former cultural czar who now leads national advocacy group Americans for the Arts. [ WBEZ ] Today, Johnson announced Chicago faces a $882.4 million budget gap next year. While smaller than expected, it’s still one of the largest deficits in the city’s history, forcing yet another season of contentious conversations between Johnson and the City Council, WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel writes. The forecast is a preview of Johnson’s comprehensive budget proposal expected in the fall and does not include the programs and city services Johnson plans to spend money on next year. However, the city is projecting $400 million for legal settlements — largely tied to police misconduct — and $364 million in a supplemental payment toward retirement funds for city workers, on top of the $2.97 billion requirement by state law. [ WBEZ ] 2. Three leaders who work with Chicago’s immigrant communities reflect on the toll of Operation Midway Blitz People trying to help immigrants have also felt reeling emotions, including community leaders, social workers and mental health service providers for immigrants and their families. Evanston resident Cindy Eigler said she turned to boxing as an outlet when she felt overwhelmed by responding to Operation Midway Blitz, both through volunteer work and her day job as executive director of the Coalition for Immigrant Mental Health. Angela Sedeño, executive director of the bilingual mental health clinic LoSAH Center of Hope, said she tries to make sure her staff members take breaks and aren’t overburdened by feelings of rage and helplessness. She uses a practice called reflective supervision to create spaces for people to share and process their emotions with the help of trained supervisors. To care for herself, she leans on a therapist, her family, her faith and the LoSAH center’s many community partners. Vero Ortiz, senior director of community wellness at Enlace Chicago in Little Village, said they use their powerful emotions to fuel their work, with a drive to offer more preventive options to help residents be empowered and ready for the next crisis. [ WBEZ/Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago ] 3. Chicago extended a program offering free Wi-Fi to CPS students More than 28,000 Chicago Public Schools students will have access to free internet at home this year thanks to the extension of the Chicago Connected program. The program launched in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a shift to remote learning. Since then, more than 60,000 students have gained access to reliable home internet to complete homework and access online resources, the city of Chicago said in a news release. About $2 million was dedicated to the effort, with much of the upfront costs covered by the continuation of service from prior years. Around 93% of the program’s families were categorized as economically disadvantaged, and almost all of the 20 community areas with the largest improvement in connectivity rates are on the South and West sides. [ Chicago Sun-Times ] 4. Joffrey Ballet President and CEO Greg Cameron will step down next year after helping steer a financial turnaround Cameron, 68, told the Chicago Sun-Times his succession plan has been in the works for three years and that he is neither retiring nor moving on to lead another organization. But he plans to stay connected in the Chicago arts community while pursuing other interests. Since joining the Joffrey in 2013, Cameron has brought financial stability to the organization, eliminating a budget deficit and establishing its first ever endowment, which has grown to approximately $30 million. During his tenure, the operating budget more than doubled from $13 million to about $33 million. In 2025, the Joffrey reported nearly $40 million in revenue, making it one of the top-earning arts organizations in the city. Cameron is also credited with strengthening Joffrey’s international reputation. He oversaw the company’s move from The Auditorium to the Lyric Opera, which has allowed for more ambitious productions, including the critically praised “Frankenstein” in 2023 and crowd-pleaser “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” last year. [ Chicago Sun-Times ] 5. Sound & Gravity festival is creating space for ‘left of center art’ There’s only one way to sum up the eclectic range of acts appearing at the Sound & Gravity Festival this weekend, a lineup that includes electro rockers Son Lux, ambient master Grouper and avant-jazz ensemble Natural Information Society: “The band has either played at Constellation or should have,” festival creator Mike Reed said. The boutique venue is where Reed books a mix of modern jazz, contemporary classical and experimental acts year-round, Selena Fragassi writes for the Chicago Sun-Times. Constellation is also one of the seven concert halls participating in the multiday, multivenue festival that returns this weekend to the Avondale area for its second year. Other participating spots include Reed’s other venue Hungry Brain, as well as Beat Kitchen, Judson & Moore, Guild Row, Rockwell on the River and its adjoining patio, and the Athenaeum Theatre. Programming the festival in one centralized area of venues (where Reed also lives) is twofold. First, he said, “I wanted to get away from the festival of 20,000 people in the park, which I think has in a lot of ways played itself out, at least in Chicago.” But the other reason was to encourage music fans to easily jump from one venue to the next and discover a new band — or a new neighborhood. Sound & Gravity’s website also offers a map with eight different restaurants to check out nearby, such as Indian street food eatery Thattu and BBQ hot spot Soul & Smoke. [ Chicago Sun-Times ] Here’s what else is happening Gloria Steinem, a trailblazing journalist and activist who devoted her life to fighting for women’s rights, died at 92. [ NPR ] The Trump administration wants to take away tax exemptions from any school offering targeted support to minority students. [ New York Times ] The Chicago area could see milder temperatures this winter thanks to El Niño — but that doesn’t necessarily mean less snow. [ Block Club Chicago ] Two more beluga whales died at the Shedd Aquarium. [ Chicago Sun-Times ] Oh, and one more thing … You can’t miss Evanston’s new $32 million Northlight Theatre, WBEZ’s Mike Davis writes. Situated near both CTA and Metra train stations, with its two-story glass walls facing outward, the building is the result of concerted efforts to integrate the theater company into the neighborhood and create an arts anchor. “We wanted to design a building that fit into Evanston but also was distinctive,” Northlight Executive Director Tim Evans said. “It has an industrial sort of feel to it and look to it because we make art in here, but we also wanted it to have a bit of a contemporary flair.” The 24,000-square-foot building features plenty of bells and whistles, including 150,000 pounds of structural and catwalk steel. But the key component is the custom-designed performance space built from scratch. The 287 chairs are noticeably larger than typical theater seats and have extra legroom, yet the auditorium maintains a feeling of intimacy. “The stage projects partially into the audience, which basically wraps around part of the stage, creating a direct intimate connection between the audience and the actors,” said Craig Smith of Chicago’s Eckenhoff Saunders architecture firm. [ WBEZ ] Tell me something good … What is your favorite memory from this summer? Jennifer writes: “The highlight of my summer was going to Cleveland to see Train in concert at Blossom Music Center (an outdoor venue, like Ravinia) with two of my sisters. Matt Nathanson and BareNaked Ladies opened, and it was a perfect evening. We sang and danced and ate our delicious picnic dinner all night long, and the rain held off!” Gary writes: “My favorite memory from this summer was on July 1 when our bike club did our now annual ride from Arlington Heights to Wrigley Field, checked our bikes at the bike check, watched the game and biked back to Arlington Heights after the game. The Cubs scored 23 runs that day.” Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.

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