HAZ Cooperative Studios (HAZ) is an artist-owned, cooperatively-run organization designed to remove paywalls and provide accessibility, resources, and opportunities to artists, specifically artists in cultural communities under threat, so they may pursue an arts career. While cooperative structures in Chicago are gaining momentum, there are not many artist cooperatives, and fewer still have purchased physical space for programming. AmbitioUS supported HAZ (formerly Artist Resource Community Chicago) as part of its 2020 Early-Stage Arts, Creative, and Cultural Cooperatives open call with a grant, technical assistance from AmbitioUS grantee Uptima Cooperative, and a loan guarantee through Seed Commons. Since receiving our seed funding, HAZ is now a formally structured cooperative, has successfully purchased its building, developed a plan for renovating the space, and hosted  events that  connect artists in a part of the city that has few artist-run and owned options. In 2023, AmbitioUS provided a one-year expenditure responsibility grant of $25,000 to support HAZ’s growth and service to the arts community with funding that is focused on capital improvements that will create more usable space for artists of color.