Chicago arts insiders say they want leader with ‘gumption’ to secure funding and withstand federal attacks

Chicago arts leaders say they want to see Mayor Brandon Johnson appoint a cultural commissioner who will fight for arts funding and have the “gumption” to galvanize the sector.

Those calls come following this week’s leadership shakeup at the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. On Tuesday afternoon, Johnson’s handpicked cultural commissioner, Clinée Hedspeth, resigned her post.

The announcement was made by a co-chair of the department’s Cultural Advisory Council at a meeting of the advisory group. It came as a surprise, not only to council members in the room and the alderman who chairs the City Council cultural committee, but also the mayor’s office. A mayoral spokesperson told WBEZ Wednesday that Johnson had not requested Hedspeth’s resignation.

Hedspeth’s tenure,