The Community Investments program supports San Francisco-based artists, arts organizations, and communities with an equity lens through grants, technical assistance, arts education initiatives, and community-based Cultural Centers.
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Important Dates
| AIE First-Time Grantee Initiative Fiscal Sponsorship + Application 101 Webinar | The recording of this session is available here. |
| AIE First-Time Grantee Initiative Grantseeker Webinar | The recording of this session is available here. |
| Arts Impact Endowment (AIE) | First-Time Grantee Initiative Application Due | Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 12 p.m. |
| Special Project Grants (SPX) Application Due | Closed |
| Artistic Legacy Grant Application Due | Closed |
| Creative Space Grant (CRSP) Application Due | Closed |
| Cultural Equity Initiatives (CEI) Application Due | Closed |
| San Francisco Artist Grant (SFA) Application Due | Closed |
| Native American Arts and Cultural Traditions Special Grant Application Due | Closed |
| Ebony McKinney Community Stewards Grant (EMCS) Application Due | Closed |
Helpful Hints
FY23 Grant Information Session Recordings
The Organization Project Grant category continues to be on hiatus for projects taking place July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023 given the uncertainty of the re-opening schedule of venues in San Francisco. For questions, contact sfac.grants@sfgov.org
Grant Categories
The Artistic Legacy Grant (ALG) acknowledges the impact of an artistic leader who has served a San Francisco-based organization consistently for 25 years or more. An artistic leader may be an individual that conceives, develops and implements the artistic vision of an organization. This may include artistic directors, chief artistic officers, program directors, executive directors or curators.
Through the vision of the artistic leader, the applicant organization is a vital member of their respective community(ies) and has a history of working to educate the broader community on the importance of their culture and/or artistic genre.
For questions about this grant category, please contact Program Officer, Debbie Ng at debbie.h.ng@sfgov.org or (415) 252-2216.
The Artivist-in-Residence (AIR) is a grant program for a nonprofit arts organization to hire teaching artists as part-time hourly employees to design and implement socially responsive art and creative exploration learning experiences (e.g. in-person, hybrid, remote) as a means to heal and build community. In turn, teaching artists are provided equitable compensation and opportunities to further their artistic practices and professional development as educators in a three-year cohort.
For questions about this grant category, please contact sfac.grants@sfgov.org.
The Arts Impact Endowment (AIE) | First-Time Grantee Initiative aims to shift beyond Covid recovery to more sustained and transformational investments that begin to address the economic devastation arts and culture workers have, and continue to, endure. The global pandemic only intensified the existing racial and economic disparities in the arts & culture sector and brought to the surface the ways in which institutions and policies have consistently undervalued and underinvested in the creative sector.
The First-Time Grantee Initiative prioritizes arts organizations and individual creators + makers deeply rooted in Black, Indigenous, POC, LGBTQI+, and/or Disabled San Francisco communities. It offers accessibility and is specifically designed to reach individuals and arts organizations who have never received funding from the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) or Grants for the Arts (GFTA) and funds the four community-driven priorities of the Arts Impact Endowment: Arts Education/Creative Exploration, Space/Capital, Arts Organizations/Core Support or Individual Artist Support.
The Initiative aspires to uplift and retain the next generation of San Francisco artists and arts organizations with a $50,000 investment and the potential to make tangible change: to build capacity, create infrastructure, generate income, connect more deeply with communities, secure future funding, and dream.
For questions about this grant category, please contact Candace Eros Diaz at candace.diaz@sfgov.org or 415-252-2253.
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FY22 AIE | FIRST-TIME GRANTEE INITIATIVE GUIDELINES & APPLICATION
The Creative Space (CRSP) grant program supports the enhancement of San Francisco cultural facilities through Planning and Facility Improvement Grants. The funding category aims to improve existing arts facilities and develop new ones that will support the work of San Francisco’s arts organizations and artists.
CRSP Planning and Facilities grants support the planning or pre-planning for the development or acquisition of arts facilities; or facilities-related capital improvements to address emergency and safety situations including compliance with COVID-19 related health orders, and/or improve or enhance the creative space.
PLANNING GRANTS: Grants for up to $50,000 to arts organizations for the planning or pre-planning of the development and/or acquisition of arts facilities.
FACILITY IMPROVEMENT GRANTS: Grants for up to $100,000 to tax-exempt arts organizations with programming space for capital improvements and/or to address key safety, code-compliance, and/or ADA accessibility issues.
- LEVEL 1: Grants for up to $50,000 for arts organizations that have at least three years remaining on their lease at the start of the grant term, or, has a year-to-year lease and has leased the space for a minimum of ten years prior to the start of the grant term.
- LEVEL 2: Grants for up to $100,000 for arts organizations that hold title to their space, or have a lease with at least five years remaining at the start of the grant term
For questions, contact Senior Program Officer Jaren Bonillo at jaren.bonillo@sfgov.org or (415) 252-2227.
The Cultural Equity Initiatives (CEI) grant program supports small and mid-sized arts organizations deeply rooted in San Francisco communities with core support grants up to $100,000 over two years.
- Funds may be used for general operating expenses including but not limited to administrative/staff salaries, utilities, rent, office supplies, technology maintenance, as well as for project costs, professional development, artistic planning and programming.
- Prioritizes organizations deeply rooted and connected to BIPOC, LGBTQ, People with Disabilities, women and other communities that are identified in the Cultural Equity Endowment Legislation.
- Fosters artistic expression and arts leadership reflective of San Francisco's rich cultural heritage and legacy.
- Provides flexibility and addresses bandwidth challenges in critical sustainability areas including operations and staff development.
For questions, contact Program Officer Debbie Ng at debbie.h.ng@sfgov.org or (415) 252-2216.
The Dream Keeper Initiative is a new, citywide effort to reinvest $120 million over the next two years from law enforcement into San Francisco's Black and African-American communities. This initiative is part of Mayor London N. Breed's roadmap for reforming public safety and addressing structural inequities in San Francisco.
The Arts Commission is investing $2.1 million in arts and culture organizations to anchor support for the cultural assets and economic vitality in historically Black and African-American communities facing rapid change.
For questions about this grant category, please contact Senior Program Officer Jaren Bonillo at jaren.bonillo@sfgov.org or 415-252-2227
The Ebony McKinney Community Stewards Grant (EMCS) is a regranting opportunity that supports the collaborative development and release of the Ebony McKinney Arts Leadership Grant with a focus on reimagining and centering racial equity, addressing harm, and the ideals embodied by Ebony: vision, determination, and advocacy for the arts as social practice.
SFAC seeks a very small to mid-sized arts organization to utilize a restorative justice lens for understanding the background and history of the Ebony McKinney Arts Leadership Grant among the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC), Emerging Arts Professionals San Francisco Bay Area (EAP/SFBA), and Ebony’s Community who include members from EAP/SFBA and Arts for a Better Bay Area. Funds will support the administrative costs associated with revitalizing the process and criteria for the next Ebony McKinney Arts Leadership Grant including, launching the guidelines and application, selecting the grantee, and administering $20,000 to the grantee.
For questions about this grant category, please contact Program Associate Candace Eros Diaz at candace.diaz@sfgov.org.
Ebony McKinney Community Stewards Grant Guidelines & Application
The Native American Arts and Cultural Traditions Special Grant (NAACT-SPX) consists of a one-time grant to address emerging needs within the arts ecosystem of San Francisco that supports and/or highlights the Native American community. Projects cover a wide range of arts activities related to arts access.
For questions about this grant category, please contact Senior Program Officer Jaren Bonillo at jaren.bonillo@sfgov.org or 415-252-2227
San Francisco Artist Grants (SFA, formerly Individual Artist Commissions/IAC) are for individual artists and fund works of art made by artists living in San Francisco. Artist projects and the majority of activities must take place in San Francisco and benefit a San Francisco audience. This grant category considers proposals for projects in all artistic genres and at any stage of an artist's career. Grant requests can be up to $20,000. Priority funding goes to artists that are deeply rooted in and reflective of communities listed in the Arts Commission's 1993 Cultural Equity Endowment Legislation and informed by current best practices in racial equity.
For questions, contact Program Officer Anne Trickey at anne.trickey@sfgov.org or (415) 252-2213.
The Special Project Grants (SPX) program consists of one-time grants to address emerging needs within the arts ecosystem of San Francisco. Projects cover a wide range of arts activities related to neighborhood and/or community-based engagement and arts access. The SFAC has allocated resources to make grants in multiple program areas based on supervisorial districts and/or specific communities.
For questions about this grant category, please contact Deputy Director of Programs, Joanne Lee at joanne.lee1@sfgov.org
The word Sankofa is connected to the West African proverb, “It’s not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” With this proverb as our north star, this responsive recovery fund prioritizes BIPOC-led (Black/Indigenous/People of Color) organizations to uplift BIPOC communities through their own self-determination.
For questions about this grant category, please contact sfac.grants@sfgov.org.
The Special Project Grants (SPX) program consists of one-time grants to address emerging needs within the arts ecosystem of San Francisco. Projects cover a wide range of arts activities related to neighborhood and/or community-based engagement and arts access. The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) has allocated resources to make grants in multiple program areas based on supervisorial districts and/or specific communities.
Applicants may only apply for funding specific to those geographic areas or communities outlined within these guidelines. For questions about this grant category, please contact Senior Program Officer Jaren Bonillo at jaren.bonillo@sfgov.org or 415-252-2227.
DEADLINE: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 at 12 p.m.