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  "path": "/arts-culture/2026/03/19/chicago-arts-kenya-merritt-cultural-affairs-dcase-commissioner-grants",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-19T14:56:14.871Z",
  "site": "https://www.wbez.org",
  "textContent": "<p>Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has appointed Kenya Merritt permanently as commissioner of the city’s cultural affairs department, a role she has been serving in on an <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/city-hall/2025/10/10/dcase-commissioner-cultural-affairs-mayor-brandon-johnson-taps-longtime-city-employee-kenya-merritt\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>interim basis since October</u></a>.</p><p>Merritt, a deputy mayor in the Johnson administration, was tapped for the cultural position after the mayor’s previous hand-picked leader and friend, Clinée Hedspeth, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/politics/2025/10/07/chicago-cultural-commissioner-dcase-clinee-hedspeth-resigns-city-hall\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>resigned the post</u></a>. Hedspeth’s tenure included <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/culture-the-arts/2024/09/09/chicago-cultural-affairs-special-events-dcase-clinee-hedspeth-brandon-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>high staff turnover</u></a> and allegations of bullying and <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/former-dcase-commissioner-resigned-after-hr-investigation-harassment-allegations/3847000/\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>sexual harassment</u></a>. The city council must now approve Merritt as commissioner.</p><p>In an <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/arts-culture/2025/12/16/chicago-cultural-department-dcase-grants-kenya-merritt-chief-mayor-brandon-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>interview with WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times</u></a> in December, Merritt said she was focused on leading the department into a new era and establishing “communication norms” internally.</p><p>The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events steers everything from large-scale downtown events such as the Millennium Park summer music and film series to Taste of Chicago and Jazz Fest. It also gives out individual <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/arts-culture/2025/01/13/chicago-arts-funding-trump-grants-dcase-individual-artists-program-iap\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>artists grants</u></a>.</p><p>Merritt, a lifelong Chicagoan who grew up in North Lawndale, has also said her plans for the DCASE include creating a “stronger connection between culture and economic growth” and ensuring the department is “built for long-term sustainability.”</p><p>“The best way to articulate that is the contributions that arts and culture play in our broader economy,” Merritt said. “Everybody can understand that.”</p><p>The arts face a precarious moment. In the latest City Hall budget battle, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/city-hall/2025/11/05/chicago-dcase-cultural-affairs-budget-clinee-hedspeth-kenya-merritt-grants-arts\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>DCASE’s funding took a cut</u></a>. On the state level, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/arts-culture/2026/02/23/pritzker-budget-arts-funding-flat-illinois-2026-2027-grants-trump\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>the proposed budget</u></a> for the sector is flat. And nationally, President Donald Trump has <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/arts-culture/2025/05/06/nea-grants-trump-chicago-cultural-events\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>clawed back grants</u></a> given through the National Endowment for the Arts, announced he will <a class=\"Link\" href=\"http://npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5500550/smithsonian-trump-review\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>close the Kennedy Center</u></a> for two years of renovations after taking over control of the venue and called for <a class=\"Link\" href=\"http://npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5500550/smithsonian-trump-review\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>a sweeping review</u></a> of Smithsonian exhibitions.</p><p>“We already know what's happening at the national level, arts are in limbo, and many believe that arts are a luxury,” Merritt said at the Chicago Loop Alliance’s annual meeting last month. “What we know as arts is incredibly important, not only to our quality of life, but to our economy.”</p><p>Merritt is a longtime city staffer who served as Johnson’s deputy mayor of business, economic and neighborhood development.</p><p>Merritt previously worked as DCASE’s chief financial officer and interim chief operating officer. She’s also served stints at the city’s Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection; Department of Family and Support Services; Chicago Office of Budget and Management; and other public positions over the last 25 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. She has been with Johnson’s administration since he took office in 2023.</p><p><i>Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.</i></p>",
  "title": "Kenya Merritt tapped to permanently lead Chicago’s cultural affairs department",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-19T14:56:14.871Z"
}