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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2025 Grant Opportunities
Special Project Grants Application Deadline: October 9, 2024 at 12 p.m.
Artistic Legacy Grant Application Deadline: October 24, 2024 at 12 p.m.
Cultural Equity Initiatives (CEI) Application deadline: October 30, 2024 at 12 p.m.
San Francisco Artist Grant Application Deadline: November 6, 2024 at 12 p.m.
Arts Impact Endowment Application Deadline: November 13, 2024 at 12 p.m.
FY25 SFAC Grant Guidelines - All Categories Version 2, Posted September 27, 2024
FY25 SFAC Grant Application Instructions - All Categories
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Ang pagsasalin sa Tagalog ng aplikasyon para sa pagkalooban na ito ay makukuha kung hihingilin. Ngunit ang aplikasyon sa Ingles lamang ang aming tatanggapin. Para sa tulong, maaring i-contact si art-info@sfgov.org.
Technical Assistance Webinars
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Grant Seeker Webinar (All grant categories) |
Grant Information Sessions |
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FY25 Artistic Legacy Grant and San Francisco Artist (SFA) Grant Seeker Webinar |
Grant Information Sessions |
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FY25 Arts Impact Endowment (AIE) Grant Seeker Webinar |
Grant Information Sessions |
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FY25 Cultural Equity Initiatives (CEI) Grant Seeker Webinar |
Grant Information Sessions |
| Work Sample Webinar | Grant Information Sessions |
| FY25 Arts Impact Endowment (AIE) Q&A | Grant Information Sessions |
| Fiscal Sponsor Webinar | See Grant Information Sessions |
No deadline extensions will be granted. In fairness to others, we cannot accept late or incomplete applications. If the applicant does not provide the complete set of information in the appropriate format by the deadline, the application may be deemed incomplete and ineligible.
Questions
SFAC is committed to providing information about the grants program. We have included a formal questions procedure for this year’s guidelines. Per SFAC's formal questions procedure, SFAC has updated the questions and answers received by the October 10 question submission deadline, and published them on Friday, October 11, 2024 in the Frequently Asked Questions (Version 2, posted October 11, 2024) page.
Duplicate questions that have already been answered are not addressed in Version 2 of the Frequently Asked Questions page. Please note that the Frequently Asked Questions page will not be updated after October 11, 2024.
Please submit any additional questions in writing to sfac.grants@sfgov.org. Any questions submitted to SFAC staff after October 10, 2024, will be responded to on an ongoing basis by SFAC staff.
Grant Categories
FY25 SFAC Grant Guidelines - All Categories Version 2, Posted September 27, 2024
FY25 SFAC Grant Application Instructions - All Categories
For inquiries about past grant categories, please email sfac.grants@sfgov.org.
The Artistic Legacy Grant (ALG) acknowledges the impact of an artist who has been living and practicing their craft in San Francisco for the last 25 consecutive years or more. This grant category aims to uplift and celebrate an artist who has contributed to San Francisco’s diverse arts and culture ecosystem.
Through their artistic practice, the applicant artist is a vital member of their respective community(ies), has a history of deeply engaging with one or more of the historically underrepresented communities highlighted in the 1993 Cultural Equity Endowment Legislation, has a history of working to educate the broader community on the importance of their culture and/or artistic genre, and seeks to preserve their artistic legacy.
The Artistic Legacy Grant provides San Francisco based artists up to $75,000 over 25 months/2 years. Projects must take place between JULY 1, 2025 — JULY 31, 2027
For questions, contact Program Officer Jennifer Chu at jennifer.chu@sfgov.org or (415) 535-7305.
For the next five years (2024-2029), Arts Impact Endowment (AIE) funds are focused on Keeping Artists in San Francisco. This theme comes from the 2024-2029 Cultural Services Allocation Plan (CSAP). AIE addresses needs in the arts community by keeping artists and arts workers from being displaced. It does this by funding:
- Their work
- Their working environments
- Their connections to the communities that nurture them
- The organizations and ecosystem that support them
The CSAP for the AIE 2024-2029 will support three broad areas of funding channels, connected to a single theme of Keeping Artists in San Francisco. Racial and social justice is the primary lens for all program design.
- Sustaining Ongoing Initiatives
- Resilience & Growth
- New Creative Opportunities
Arts Impact Endowment grant provides San Francisco based artists up to $50,000 and San Francisco based arts organizations up to $100,000 over 25 months/2 Years. Projects and activities must take place in San Francisco and provide a public benefit to the City of San Francisco and its communities. Creation of work and any related public benefit must take place between July 1, 2025 and July 31, 2027.
For questions about this grant category, please contact Program Officer, Jonell Molina at jonell.molina@sfgov.org or 415-252-2218.
The Cultural Equity Initiatives (CEI) grant program supports San Francisco-based small and mid-sized arts organizations deeply rooted in San Francisco communities with core support grants up to $100,000 over 25 months/2 years. Projects must take place between JULY 1, 2025 — JULY 31, 2027.
Funds may be used for general operating expenses including but not limited to administrative/staff salaries, utilities, rent, office supplies, technology maintenance, space planning as well as for project costs, professional development, artistic planning and programming and sabbaticals.
Prioritizes organizations deeply rooted in historically marginalized communities highlighted 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 Jennifer Chu at jennifer.chu@sfgov.org or (415) 535-7305.
San Francisco Artist Grants (SFA) are for individual artists and fund works of art made by artists living in San Francisco. Artist projects and 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 $30,000. Projects must take place between July 1, 2025 — December 30, 2026. 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 Jen Atwood at jennifer.atwood@sfgov.org or 415-252-2271.
Each year at the beginning of the new fiscal year in July, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors releases a list of budget amendments, commonly known as "addbacks." These are funds that elected officials allocate to various City departments for citywide programs as well as for services and resources in their respective districts. The San Francisco Arts Commission conducts an open and transparent request for proposals for allocations that we receive through the addback process. This competitive process is utilized throughout the City for the allocation of public funds.
In addition to addback funds, the Special Project Grant category also includes funds from other City departments mandated for arts focused work. The allocations in Fiscal Year 2024-25 address a wide range of arts activities related to neighborhood and/or community-focused engagement and arts access. Many of these allocations align with the legislative mandates of the Cultural Equity Endowment.
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, Anne Trickey at anne.trickey@sfgov.org or 415-806-5884.
To view SFAC's current and past grantees, please click these links:
FY24 Grantees
Past Grantees