Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has tapped one in every of his present deputies to be the appearing commissioner of the town’s cultural affairs division, his workplace introduced Friday.
Deputy Mayor Kenya Merritt will lead the Division of Cultural Affairs and Particular Occasions whereas Johnson searches for a everlasting substitute for Clinée Hedspeth, who resigned this week after a rocky tenure within the place.
Merritt is a longtime metropolis staffer who’s presently Johnson’s deputy mayor of enterprise, financial and neighborhood improvement. A mayoral spokesperson mentioned that Merritt will return to her position as deputy mayor as soon as the DCASE position has been completely stuffed.
Merritt beforehand labored as DCASE’s chief monetary officer and interim chief working officer. She’s additionally had stints on the metropolis’s Chicago Division of Enterprise Affairs and Client Safety; Division of Household and Assist Companies; Chicago Workplace of Price range and Administration; and different public positions over the past 25 years, based on her LinkedIn profile. She has been with Johnson’s administration since he took workplace in 2023.
Earlier this yr, the Solar-Instances reported that Johnson had tried to foyer for Merritt to guide Select Chicago, however the metropolis’s tourism advertising company finally chosen Kristen Reynolds, a longtime tourism chief in New York.
The appointment of the town’s subsequent cultural commissioner can be intently watched amongst arts advocates, who say the place is especially crucial in an period of funding disruption by the Trump administration. This week, Chicago arts leaders mentioned they need Johnson to nominate a cultural commissioner who will struggle for arts funding and have the “gumption” to impress the sector.
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and tradition reporter at WBEZ.
