Recent Grantmaking: The Arts

Fiscal Sponsor: Alameda County Office of Education
The Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, based out of the Alameda County Office of Education, provides a thoughtful, comprehensive effort to infuse arts learning into every county school. It emphasizes training classroom teachers to integrate the arts into lessons regardless of subject. It develops "anchor" schools and districts to serve as models for others, implements an evaluation system, and works closely with parents. The Fund's grant to the Alliance supports its professional development program for teachers and its work with parents as advocates for arts education.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.artiseducation.org

Bay Area Video Coalition's (BAVC) Digital Pathways program provides 20 low-income youth with two years of intensive training in audio engineering or video production. BAVC now is working to translate the Digital Pathways curriculum into a Web-friendly format suitable for distribution and for use in professional development workshops for teachers. The Fund's grant helps complete training for the final group of Digital Pathways students and pilot the new professional development program.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 03/19/2010 through 03/19/2011
Project Web Site: www.bavc.org

Bayview Hunters Point Center for Art and Technology (BAYCAT) provides digital arts training to youth and adults, focusing on service for low-income residents of the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods. Courses for young people are offered at BAYCAT's Third Street facilities as well as at public schools in San Francisco. In 2011, this project will provide in-depth instruction to 250 youth and coaching to 20 teachers and community center staff members on how to integrate digital arts into curricula and programs.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 10/15/2010 through 10/15/2011
Project Web Site: www.baycat.org

The California Alliance for Arts Education is the only statewide organization advocating for quality arts learning opportunities for all California public school students. The Alliance continually monitors education legislation in Sacramento and unites stakeholders to discuss the role of the arts in education. It also works to develop grassroots leadership in communities throughout California.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/13/2011 through 07/13/2012
Project Web Site: www.artsed411.org

The California Alliance for Arts Education is the only statewide policy and advocacy entity fighting for quality arts learning for K-12 students. It reads and analyzes proposed education legislation, collaborates with members of California's Education Coalition, and will work to expand a network of local advocacy groups in state counties and districts. The Fund provides general operating support to the Alliance so it can continue to advance arts education and influence public policy.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/07/2010 through 09/07/2011
Project Web Site: www.artsed411.org

California College of the Arts' Community Student Fellows Program places art students in paid internships to enhance arts learning opportunities for children and youth. Fellows come from a range of creative disciplines and work from eight to ten hours per week at their placements. Support from the Fund will help the College sustain last year's growth and continue to improve its fellowship training program to the benefit of Bay Area youth.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.cca.edu

The Community Student Fellows at the Center for Art and Public Life at California College of the Arts contribute their time, skills, and expertise in a variety of settings and roles; many lead art lessons in classrooms and youth programs. The Center requires students and their placement site contacts to participate in trainings in art practice, project management, and art instruction strategy. This strengthens relationships between the Center, student fellows, and site contacts. The program is free for community sites and demand for student fellows has grown. In response, the Center seeks to increase its capacity to 40 placements.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2011] , $15,000 conditional
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.center.cca.edu

California Poets in Schools places published poets in classrooms statewide, where they provide students with lessons in creative writing. Along with providing matching funds to schools serving low-income students, the Fund's grant invests in local area coordinators to help coach and place new poet-teachers.
Grant Amount: $18,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/01/2010 through 11/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.cpits.org

California Shakespeare Theater provides low-income students in eight Oakland public schools with ongoing theater arts education. Visiting artists work with teachers to develop classroom theater activities to aid learning across a range of subject areas. Professional development and curricular resources for teachers extend the content and techniques made available through these artists’ presentations. With support from the Fund, the Theater enhances its programming with additional student contact hours, events to engage family members, and revised curricula and assessment tools.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/17/2011 through 05/17/2012
Project Web Site: www.calshakes.org

Cantare Con Vivo makes high-quality choral music available and accessible to Bay Area audiences. With support from the Fund, it provides free in-school and after-school choral music education to 1,300 students in the Oakland Unified School District. It leads two classes per week at five elementary schools; and middle and high school students at 14 Oakland schools participate in its youth ensemble programs.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/01/2010 through 09/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.cantareconvivo.org

The Center for the Art of Translation offers an innovative arts curriculum that strengthens students' language skills by teaching them to translate poetry from great Spanish and Cantonese literature and to write poetry in those languages. In the coming year, the Center will provide three days of instruction in its curriculum to six San Francisco and Alameda County public school teachers. These teachers and Center staff will then refine the pilot program so it can expand to benefit more Bay Area schools.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/17/2010 through 05/17/2011
Project Web Site: www.catranslation.org

Chinese Cultural Productions, presents school assemblies and teaches after-school classes at three San Francisco elementary schools that serve a significant number of Chinese students. Recently, the group leased a South of Market studio to use for rehearsals and, potentially, a small dance school. The Fund's grant supports the group's after-school program and its hiring of a planning facilitator to analyze the feasibility of creating a dance school to extend its dance instruction.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 12/13/2010 through 12/13/2011
Project Web Site: www.lilycaidance.org

For 90 years, the Community Music Center has made music study available to the public without regard to age, ethnicity, or financial status. It operates from a main campus in the Mission District, a branch in the Richmond District, and from outreach sites. In addition to music lessons, the Center, in conjunction with partner groups, presents free and affordable concerts and recitals. The Center seeks to remain accessible, maintain quality instruction, and further diversify both the musical styles taught and the types of students it serves. Demand for the Center’s music instruction has increased in each of the past three years. In 2011, 69% of its students received financial aid.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011] , $50,000 [2012]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfcmc.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Council of Chief State School Officers
The Arts Education Partnership is a national coalition of more than 100 education, arts, cultural, business, government, and philanthropic organizations. The Partnership analyzes and disseminates research and policy information, fosters dialogue about what works in arts education, and supports advocacy for improved education policy and practice. Its fall 2011 forum, held in San Francisco, was supported by a grant from the Fund in order to help keep participation fees reasonable for local groups.
Grant Amount: $5,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 08/05/2011 through 08/05/2012
Project Web Site: www.aep-arts.org

The Crucible offers training in the fine and industrial arts. Noting the preponderance of young men in industrial arts classes, the Crucible created its Gear Girls program to encourage young women and girls to learn sculpture techniques. They are offering four age-appropriate, intensive classes in kinetic sculpture, foundry, welding, and art bike creation. Each class will help engage twelve girls or young women in art fields in which females are underrepresented.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: thecrucible.org

Serving students of all ages, Dance Brigade presents dance classes in a range of traditions. The Fund supports Dance Brigade's Grrrl Brigade, a multicultural dance and drumming education and performance program. Reaching 240 girls in two age groups last year, this vibrant program benefits low-income Mission District families. No student is turned away from Grrrl Brigade for inability to pay and at least half of its participants pay no tuition or reduced tuition.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/07/2010 through 05/07/2011
Project Web Site: www.dancebrigade.org

From its Mission District studios, Dance Brigade offers three levels of dance classes to girls aged 6 to 18 years old. This Grrrl Brigade program improves girls’ self-esteem and body-awareness. It develops skills in salsa, hip hop, samba, ballet, modern dance, jazz dance, and Taiko drumming. Tuition is kept affordable with 30% of participants receiving full or partial scholarships. Dance Brigade aspires to continue increasing its enrollment to reach 270 students in 2011-2012.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 08/29/2011 through 08/29/2012
Project Web Site: www.dancebrigade.org

The Destiny Arts curriculum combines training in self-defense, choosing a healthy lifestyle, dance, and music. It encourages youth to find creative and peaceful solutions to conflicts in their lives. This W&EHF grant funds Destiny's after-school, weekend, and summer programs that serve 300 youth annually at 22 East Bay schools, plus another 9,000 people through performances and workshops. Tuition subsidies and scholarships are offered for all on-site programs.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 06/30/2010 through 06/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.destinyarts.org

Drawbridge places working artists in 10 Bay Area shelters and transitional housing sites to lead art groups for over 700 homeless and formerly homeless children. The program emphasizes building participants' self-esteem, honoring them with high-quality materials and instruction, and introducing them to culturally diverse art practices. The Fund supports these efforts to provide art instruction to vulnerable children. It encourages Drawbridge to increase individual donations by requiring a 1:1 match for $10,000 of this grant.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2010] $10,000 conditional
Project Dates: 07/09/2010 through 07/09/2011
Project Web Site: www.drawbridge.org

Acceptance into a youth orchestra can change the life of a young musician, but competition for seats can be intense. Students whose families cannot afford private teachers are unlikely to be selected. Oakland Youth Orchestra seeks to diversify its membership culturally and socio-economically through projects: an outreach music education effort led by Mexican American composer Hector Armienta and a bridge program through which it identifies talented, motivated middle school students, matches them with private teachers, pays for their instruction, and continues to provide private coaching if they are admitted to the Orchestra.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/11/2011 through 02/11/2012
Project Web Site: www.oyo.org

The Oakland East Bay Symphony, part of the recently merged East Bay Performing Arts organization, makes classical music accessible to individuals who would otherwise lack the opportunity to hear live symphonic music. Its Music for Excellence program provides free services to 20,000 young people each year. Offerings range from in-school and after-school music classes led by professional musicians, to weekend practice clubs, to concerts in which young musicians play with the Symphony. The Fund's grant helps to sustain these robust and thoughtful programs.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/01/2010 through 11/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.oebs.org

Aerial dance company Flyaway Productions offers a summer dance and activism program for girls in the South of Market district. The group, using a grant from the Fund, seeks to add consistency to its programming and to increase opportunities for participation among interested girls. In 2011, it will pilot master classes at three or more youth organizations and public schools, present quarterly dance workshops at CounterPULSE, and lead a summer program.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/29/2011 through 04/29/2012
Project Web Site: www.flyawayproductions.com

Imagine Bus Project's after-school program provides school year and summer art classes at five schools and community centers serving low-income students. The Project hires and trains high-quality art teachers, developing a curriculum based on California Visual and Performing Arts standards. Its semester and year-long workshops receive support from the Fund to provide and improve arts education opportunities.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/01/2010 through 09/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.imaginebusproject.org

Kala Art Institute manages an artists-in-schools program that provides 2,500 students with visual arts or East Indian dance lessons at 12 Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland public schools. At each site, Kala artists plan lessons with classroom teachers and lead students through weekly art-making activities. Kala, with help from the Fund, plans to expand its consistent, quality programming to a 13th school during 2011.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/02/2011 through 02/02/2012

Leap...imagination in learning places artists and architects in public schools and after-school programs to lead art and design lessons. It serves a large number of Bay Area public schools, including 16 in San Francisco. The organization strives to deepen and sustain the residencies it currently operates and to strengthen its professional development offerings for teaching artists so that participants can receive quality arts education.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/24/2010 through 09/24/2011
Project Web Site: www.Leap4kids.org

The Marsh is a well-regarded theater center developing new works by solo performers. Its Marsh Youth Theater provides thriving after-school and summer programs to students aged 2 to 19. Participants learn all aspects of creating theatrical performances. As students develop their skills, they have opportunities to join one of three performing ensembles. With support from the Fund, the Marsh Youth Theater will provide 635 students from Mission District public schools with theater arts education in 2011.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/26/2010 through 07/26/2011
Project Web Site: www.themarsh.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Community Initiatives
Based within KDOL, the Oakland Unified School District's educational access television station, Media Enterprise Alliance provides an arts and technology institute for public high school students. Each term, students select and research a theme, interview community experts, and address their theme through short films, news programs, and public service announcements. At present, the Alliance's 50 participants come from four Oakland public schools. Most attend Oakland International High School, which serves students from dozens of countries.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 12/01/2010 through 12/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.meaoakland.org

The Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA) develops and leads hands-on arts learning experiences for children and their families and provides professional development workshops for educators. MOCHA's programs include field trips to and drop-in classes at its Oakland studios; arts classes presented in Oakland public schools and libraries; and a Little Studios programs for preschoolers. Of the Fund's grant, the final $5,000 requires matching support from new or lapsed individual donors.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011] , $5,000 conditional
Project Dates: 02/10/2011 through 02/10/2012
Project Web Site: www.mocha.org

Music National Service Initiative, founded two years ago, asserts that musicians and artists play important roles in the national service movement. It is currently focusing on deepening and evaluating its San Francisco and Oakland MusicianCorps program. Corps members work full time, four days a week, to create service projects with their students. In 2010-11, the Initiative will train and place four musicians in San Francisco and Oakland public schools and at a hospital.
Grant Amount: $45,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/04/2010 through 11/04/2011
Project Web Site: www.musicnationalservice.org

Musical Traditions, the formal name of the Paul Dresher Ensemble, creates and performs original compositions that utilize both acoustic and electronic instruments. For example, in 2006, it created a new work for virtuoso percussionist Steve Schick that uses large, invented instruments. In the spring of 2011, Musical Traditions will offer schools short performances by Schick combined with lessons in percussion and the physics of sound. This arts education program is expected to reach 1,200 students.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 12/08/2010 through 12/08/2011
Project Web Site: www.dresherensemble.org

The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, an arts education service organization, plans to hold its 2010 national conference in San Francisco. This conference will engage attendees in technical assistance workshops, networking opportunities, and discussions of recent research and emerging trends. A local host committee is planning sessions and site visits that highlight exemplary local arts programs. The Guild estimates that a quarter of conference participants will come from the Bay Area.
Grant Amount: $5,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/07/2010 through 05/07/2011
Project Web Site: www.nationalguild.org

New Conservatory manages a theater-training program for children and youth. To facilitate attendance by children whose parents cannot drive them to activities, it developed an eight-week theater education class to be held on elementary school grounds. In 2011, the organization redoubles its efforts to work with after-school programs at those public schools that serve significant numbers of low-income children. It intends to expand from 13 to 20 sites.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/10/2011 through 02/10/2012
Project Web Site: www.nctcsf.org

Northern California Music and Art Culture Center offers after-school classes in both Western classical and traditional Korean music and dance. Advanced students can join a performing ensemble that appears at parades and festivals. With support from the Fund, the Center is creating a new 45-member ensemble that unites Asian and African-American youth to learn and perform Korean and African percussion. This effort fosters cross-cultural understanding between the two communities.
Grant Amount: $15,900 [2010]
Project Dates: 12/01/2010 through 12/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.ncmacc.org

Oakland Unified School District works to strengthen arts learning opportunities by encouraging English teachers to increase their use of theater in classrooms. With support from the Fund, the Oakland Tech drama teacher will work with eight or more district English teachers from middle and high schools, providing six daylong workshops on topics such as Shakespeare and turning oral history into narrative. Each participating teacher will be responsible for developing and testing at least one unit of instruction that involves theater.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 12/14/2010 through 12/14/2011
Project Web Site: www.ousd.k12.ca.us

Originally formed as a teen performing group, the Oakland Youth Chorus now provides one of the largest music education programs for Oakland public schools, working with some 1,000 students per year at 23 sites. Its curriculum is clearly aligned with California's Visual and Performing Arts framework, and it reaches many children who otherwise would not have opportunities to study music. The Fund's grant is helping the Chorus address both programmatic and organizational development goals identified in its strategic plan.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2008] , $40,000 [2009] , $30,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/11/2008 through 07/11/2011
Project Web Site: www.oaklandyouthchorus.org

Opera Piccola's ArtGate program serves Oakland public schools, connecting resident teaching artists with students for in school and after school arts education. The Fund's grant helps Opera Piccola staff and board focus on developing a workable long-term plan in response to cuts in contracts and contributions.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/20/2010 through 05/20/2011
Project Web Site: www.opera-piccola.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Tides Center
Out of Site provides after-school classes in visual and performing arts to more than 200 San Francisco public high school students, around 75% of whom come from low-income families. Its rigorous semester-long classes can be used to fill high school graduation requirements. To stimulate new and increased gifts from individuals, the Fund's $25,000 general operating grant to Out of Site incorporates a $5,000 challenge match.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/22/2010 through 09/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.outofsite-sf.org

Performing Arts Workshop's arts education programs benefit from dynamic leadership, excellent relationships with schools, an effective board of directors, and prudent financial policies. It emphasizes teaching the creative process as an intellectual practice which can be applied to any field of learning. Its programs include classes in creative movement, theater arts, creative writing, world dance, and music. General operating support from the Fund helps finance the Workshop's in- and out-of-school arts education programs.
Grant Amount: $45,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.performingartsworkshop.org

Last year, Performing Arts Workshop provided arts education to 9,000 pre-K through high school participants. Its classes in creative movement, theater arts, creative writing, world dance, and music—available at over 100 locations—emphasize strengthening students’ creative problem-solving skills. The Workshop excels at assisting children with special needs. It rigorously evaluates its programs and partners with other organizations. A three-year independent evaluation of the Workshop’s after-school programs showed that all sites saw a positive change in student learning and leadership skills.
Grant Amount: $45,000 [2011] , $45,000 [2012] , $45,000 [2013]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.performingartsworkshop.org

The "Mud Bus," operated by Ruby's Clay Studio and Gallery, brings clay, tools, and glazes to three youth centers in Bayview-Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley-locations that would otherwise lack ceramics instruction materials. The bus transports student works to the kiln at Ruby's for firing and then returns the completed projects to the students. Forty youth are expected to participate in classes culminating in an exhibit at Ruby's gallery. The Fund's grant covers Mud Bus costs for one semester.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/12/2010 through 04/12/2011
Project Web Site: www.rubysclaystudio.org

San Francisco Camerawork's First Exposures program teaches photography to low-income and runaway youth. Professional photographers are trained as mentors and then paired with teens who are referred to Camerawork by a network of youth programs. In 2011, First Exposures will oversee 88 youth-mentor pairs and help an additional 175 students to learn photography through classes presented at youth service organizations and transitional housing programs.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/26/2010 through 07/26/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfcamerawork.org

San Francisco Camerawork pairs professional photographers with low-income, high-need youth for yearlong individual mentorships. Participating students receive in-depth, hands-on training in photography through weekly classes, digital technology workshops, and access to laptops and cameras. Students also have the opportunity to exhibit their artwork in community and professional settings. In 2011-12, 60 students will participate in classes held at Camerawork and at Rayko Photo Center, and another 150 will participate through classes held at community centers across the city.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/07/2011 through 09/07/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfcamerawork.org

San Francisco Chanticleer continues to develop its multifaceted arts education program. It provides training for general and choral music instructors, class visits, in-school clinics for choral groups, concerts for youth, and festivals for both leading regional middle school choruses and for high school choruses from across the country. A new Chanticleer effort will form the LAB Choir, a competitively selected chorus of youth singers from the region.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 10/15/2010 through 10/15/2011
Project Web Site: www.chanticleer.org

In the coming year, Conservatory in the Schools will place professional music teachers and 20 San Francisco Conservatory of Music students into six in-school and after-school settings across the San Francisco Unified School District. There, teachers and Conservatory students will provide music instruction to more then 1,000 elementary and middle school students, many of whom will receive twice weekly instruction for free.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/01/2010 through 11/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfcm.edu

San Francisco Film Society recently evaluated the state of media arts education in San Francisco public schools. As a next step toward creating adaptable, appropriate media education programs, the Society will hire a curriculum specialist to review the current offerings, create and test curricula in school and after-school settings, and publish media arts curricula on its website.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/12/2011 through 07/12/2012
Project Web Site: www.sffs.org

Over the last 16 years, the San Francisco Mime Troupe has continually developed an annual Youth Theatre Project that offers free, intensive after-school theater arts training to Bay Area youth. Thirty students participate in twice-weekly acting and playwriting classes that culminate in productions of their original works. Participants come from public and charter schools in San Francisco and Oakland, and 90% or more of participating students are Latino, African American, or Asian American.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/15/2011 through 09/15/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfmt.org

In 2008, the San Francisco Opera Association began developing a comprehensive opera education program serving local K-12 public school students. It placed artists in 10 public schools so that they could lead workshops which culminated in performances of original pieces created with students. Teachers benefited from professional development workshops as well. With support from the Fund, the Opera will expand this program to new schools, increase program hours, pilot a program for high schools, and respond to the needs of individual educators.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfopera.com

San Francisco Performances brings renowned performers from across the world to the Bay Area. In 2011-12, four of these artists will spend several weeks as artists-in-residence in Bay Area public school classrooms. There, they will integrate music education into history, English, and social studies curricula and work with music classes. San Francisco Performances also offers weekly guitar coaching and other programs that reach 10 Bay Area public schools.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfperformances.org

The San Francisco Symphony continues its long relationship with San Francisco public schools, serving band and orchestra programs in middle and high schools. In 2011-12, the Symphony aims to reach all 23 San Francisco Unified School District schools that offer instrumental music programs, adapting its efforts to the specific needs of music teachers and students. The Symphony’s programming includes coaching, instrument repair and replacement, and specialized professional development.
Grant Amount: $80,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfsymphony.org

Fiscal Sponsor: San Francisco School Alliance Foundation
A trend toward local control has placed more power over budget decisions in the hands of school principals. Because of this, the San Francisco Unified School District receives Fund support to develop an arts leadership program for principals. The project works upon recommendations from the Principal Leadership Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. It presents 16 principals from different neighborhoods with eight intensive arts experiences. These, combined with practical problem-solving sessions, help to foster arts education in public schools.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfusd.edu

Stagebridge is the oldest senior theater in the country. It began offering intergenerational programs in 1996, placing professional artists and senior storytellers in East Bay public schools to both perform and teach. Stagebridge strengthens students' listening concentration and their oral and written communication skills. With W&EHF support, the group will sustain storytelling residencies in seven Oakland public schools, offering workshops, performances, professional development, and a new curriculum.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 08/06/2010 through 08/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.stagebridge.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Intersection for the Arts
StageWrite's Building Literacy through Theatre program successfully strengthens the reading and speaking skills of low and very low-achievement students at two public elementary schools in San Francisco. Through this Fund-supported program, students write short plays and then direct their teachers, friends, or professional actors in performances of them. StageWrite also provides professional development for teachers and teaching artists.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 03/15/2010 through 03/15/2011
Project Web Site: www.stagewrite.org

Streetside Stories offers eight different arts and storytelling programs to K-12 students. In 2012, it anticipates serving 2,600 students and 30 teachers at more than 50 public schools, community centers, and low-income housing sites in San Francisco and Alameda counties. A third of the students the program serves are English Language Learners. Participants are taught to collect and create stories and to perform or present them through the use of digital media. In response to a program review, Streetside is revising its curriculum and delivery model for 2012. Of this grant awarded by the Fund, $10,000 is intended for a collaborative planning project with Performing Arts Workshop.
Grant Amount: $45,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 08/12/2011 through 08/12/2012
Project Web Site: www.streetside.org

Streetside Stories provides students with in- and after-school workshops in relating oral, written, and digital stories. The Fund's support helps Streetside to strengthen its core program with intensive professional development for staff and rigorous evaluation. Streetside will serve 1,500 young people in San Francisco and Alameda counties in 2010-11 as well as lay the groundwork for its program's future expansion. At least 60% of Streetside Stories students are low-income and 25% are learning English.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/07/2010 through 09/07/2011
Project Web Site: www.streetside.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Community Initiatives
Artists hired to teach and mentor students in classrooms and in community centers play a major role in delivering arts education to young people. Communities, however, often have a poor understanding of the value of this work and artists involved frequently receive only minimal compensation for their efforts. Emerging service organization, Teaching Artists Organized, works against this trend by operating a job-listing Web site and by sponsoring professional development and networking opportunities for artists.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/07/2010 through 05/07/2011
Project Web Site: www.teachingartistsorganized.org

Visual Understanding in Education trains teachers to present a curriculum developed in conjunction with museum professionals to enhance student understanding of visual arts. The curriculum introduces young people to works of art and invites them to talk about their observations, back up their ideas, and consider other interpretations. Visual Understanding's professional development sessions are particularly effective when introduced within museums, so the Fund's grant supports more museum-based sessions. It also supports increased time with teachers and follow-up support at the 23 participating schools.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/22/2010 through 09/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.VisualThinkingStrategies.org

Women’s Audio Mission, a nonprofit recording studio for women, sponsors a tuition-free program to bring girls into the recording industry. Working in partnership with local Boys and Girls Clubs, schools, and cultural organizations, this "Girls on the Mic" program provides 400 8 to 18 year-old girls with hands-on workshops in digital media technology, music recording, and music making. Classes are led by award-winning professionals and educators. In 2011, 89% of participants came from low-income families and 77% had never had the opportunity to play a musical instrument. All participants in the program complete at least one music media project through a process that mirrors professional activities.
Grant Amount: $12,500 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/30/2011 through 09/30/2012
Project Web Site: www.womensaudiomission.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Regents of the University of California
Young Musicians Program stands out for its intensive commitment to low-income youth, its programmatic excellence, and for the accomplishments its students achieve. It provides no-cost pre-professional musical training to 80 to 90 disadvantaged young people aged 9 to 18, most of them from Alameda County. The Program presents weekly, afterschool private and group music lessons as well as a seven-week summer conservatory. It addresses its students' needs comprehensively, offering BART tickets, college counseling, instruments, parent resources, tutoring, and other services. It now strives to develop the nation's first choral orchestra that trains students in both vocal and orchestral performance.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: ymp.berkeley.edu

Fiscal Sponsor: Regents of the University of California
The Young Musicians Program transforms the lives of low-income youth through pre-professional music education. Through the Program, students ranging in age from 9 to 18 receive an average of nine hours of classes per week, plus additional classes in an intensive summer session. The Fund's grant supports the Program's Scaling Up project further investing in tutors, faculty, and specialized classes so more students are better positioned to succeed in higher education.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.ymp.berkeley.edu

Youth Movement Records pairs urban teens with recording industry professionals for mentoring in music production. A grant from the Fund helps Youth Movement to respond to student demand by expanding a program of small group and individual music lessons in guitar, piano, bass, drums, and vocals that currently serve approximately 25 students each semester.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/22/2010 through 09/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.youthmovementrecords.org

A leader in the field of spoken word poetry, Youth Speaks offers in school and after school workshops for youth aged 13 to 19. The Fund's grant focuses on its after-school workshops, which are organized in trimesters, meeting twice per week for 10 weeks at a dozen different locations. Approximately 800 youth will develop their creative writing and performance skills through these workshops in 2011. Youth Speaks also hosts poetry slam competitions and develops and tours performances that feature young and adult writers.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/28/2011 through 04/28/2012
Project Web Site: www.youthspeaks.org

The 100 Families program uses art to address breakdowns in relationships among family members and within neighborhoods and communities. The Alameda County Arts Commission replicates this model program to engage families in areas where community relationships are frayed--near Highland Hospital in East Oakland, at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center, and in low-income areas particularly affected by the economic downturn. The resulting artwork will be exhibited in the neighborhoods where it was created as well as in Commission-run galleries, helping to strengthen community relationships.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.acgov.org/arts

The nonprofit Alliance for California Traditional Arts awards grants and contracts and provides folk and traditional artists with professional development opportunities. The broad cultural experience possessed the Alliance’s multilingual staff helps serve organizations and artists who have little grantmaking or nonprofit management experience. The Fund supports the Alliance in offering: Living Cultures grants of up to $7,500 to presenting groups; $3,000 stipends to apprentices studying with master artists; and professional development consultancies to organizations and artists.
Grant Amount: $120,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.actaonline.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Regents of the University of California
Major UC Berkeley performing arts organization, Cal Performances, has been bringing celebrated artists to the Bay Area for more than 100 years. Its 2010 Fall Free for All presented a daylong festival of performances in venues, plazas, and tents across the University campus. In 2011, Cal Performances will again present the successful festival, expanded to accommodate larger crowds and offering more family-oriented programming.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.calperformances.org

As arts organizations cut their budgets during the economic downturn, funding for professional development of staff often gets slashed. In response, a group of California funders designed the Creative Capacity Fund. Monthly, participating funders review Quick Grant requests of up to $1,000. Awards cover costs for conference and training registrations, coaches, travel, and related expenses. The Fund’s contribution is limited to representatives of arts organizations operating in San Francisco or Alameda counties.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 08/05/2011 through 08/05/2012
Project Web Site: www.cciarts.org

Many arts nonprofits need to cut budgets and staff positions at the same time that they need to pay for workshops, consultants, or conferences to acquire and hone necessary skills. In response to this situation, grantmakers in San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles have created a pooled Creative Capacity Fund that is managed by the Center for Cultural Innovation. This fund awards arts organizations and artists with $500 or $1,000 grants to pay for professional development. The Fund's grant helps this initiative respond to the high level of need evidenced from San Francisco groups.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/07/2010 through 05/07/2011
Project Web Site: www.cciarts.org

Since 1980, City Arts & Lectures has presented events featuring leading writers, critics, scientists, artists, actors, and more. Each season offers more than 50 lectures and onstage conversations that provide the local public with diverse perspectives. In partnership with KQED 88.5 FM, City Arts & Lectures co-produces broadcasts of its programs, supplying free access to thousands of radio listeners. It also offers 2,000 free tickets each year to high school students. City Arts contributes at least $40,000 each year from ticket sales to benefit nonprofit causes.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/30/2011 through 09/30/2012
Project Web Site: www.cityarts.net

The Community Music Center offers affordable, high-quality music education and public performances that serve a broad cross-section of the local population. The Fund provides general operating support to the Center so that it can continue to steadily increase enrollment and provide additional scholarship support. The Center recently adopted a five-year plan to gradually expand the number of students and audience members it serves by 25%.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfcmc.org

Creative Growth offers creative opportunities and financial support to artists with developmental disabilities. Artists at Creative Growth produce remarkable artwork, and this project seeks to increase connections between the artists it supports and the broader public. It intends to draw 12,000 people to its gallery in 2012 and to contribute to breaking down stereotypes about those with developmental disabilities. Creative Growth collaborates on projects with other galleries, operates exchanges with self-taught artists, holds public events, and maintains partnerships with nearby colleges and universities.
Grant Amount: $7,500 [2011]
Project Dates: 08/12/2011 through 08/12/2012
Project Web Site: www.creativegrowth.org

Some of the oldest forms of music use the human body as a percussive instrument. This "body music" is practiced around the world—from Arctic throat singing to African American hambone. In 2008, leading Bay Area body music artist, Keith Terry of Crosspulse, launched an international body music festival. In 2011, the fourth annual festival will take place in San Francisco and Oakland, featuring artists from Spain, Turkey, Indonesia, the Arctic, and the United States. The festival's many free programs should reach an audience diverse in age and cultural background. The Fund supports these efforts to give local audiences an opportunity to experiment with time-honored musical forms.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/28/2011 through 02/28/2012
Project Web Site: www.crosspulse.com

Dancers' Group produces an expanding and well-regarded array of dance performances designed to introduce and build new audiences for dance. Their productions include monthly free performances in the City Hall rotunda and ONSITE—new works commissioned from local dance artists, created specifically for non-traditional sites. In 2011, the Group seeks to expand its family-friendly programs and to diversify its offerings through collaboration with World Arts West.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/02/2011 through 02/02/2012
Project Web Site: www.dancersgroup.org

Epiphany Productions creates new dance works and annually commissions site-specific dance works from Bay Area choreographers that are presented as part of "Trolley Dances." For three days in October 2010, these site-specific pieces were presented for free along San Francisco's N-Judah streetcar line. Engaging public schools along the route, the performances reached more than 3,500 people. Epiphany Productions also is working with Refugee Transitions to involve refugees in creating an original work to be presented at ODC Theater and, for free, at Oakland's World Refugee Day. The Fund supports these programs that engage a diverse population in contemporary dance.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.epiphanyproductions.com

Each October, the Foundation Center helps local arts organizations to develop sustainable fundraising plans and to learn about current arts funding trends through its program of classes, panels, and workshops. Most of these Arts Month programs are free to the public and attendance has grown to near a thousand participants. The program, supported by the Fund, highlights strategies for navigating tough economic times and encourages creative new fundraising ideas.
Grant Amount: $2,500 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/22/2010 through 09/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.foundationcenter.org/sanfrancisco

Grantmakers in the Arts is the national service organization serving the field of arts philanthropy with publications, a Website, regional gatherings, and an annual conference. Its 2010 conference in Chicago carries forward a discussion of how foundations can respond to the current economic climate. The Fund's grant helps support the significant arts education content that will be presented in a one-day pre-conference and be part of the main conference. This material will reach the broader arts field via podcasts and publications in the Grantmakers in the Arts Reader.
Grant Amount: $5,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/06/2010 through 09/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.giarts.org

Grantmakers in the Arts, the national affinity group serving the arts and culture field, produces an annual conference each October. Using the host city as a backdrop, more than 350 arts grantmakers gather to discuss innovative programs, new research findings, and best practices. The conference content is shared through a publication and website. The group's 2011 San Francisco-based conference will focus on the rapid changes in grantmaking brought about by developing technology and shifting demographics.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/04/2011 through 05/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.giarts.org

Choreographer Joe Goode synthesizes dance and theater in acclaimed works that are staged in theaters or performed as walk-through pieces in an array of locations. In late 2010, the Joe Goode Performance Group acquired its first permanent studio, in the Northeast Mission. Using its new base, the group will develop a new piece in conjunction with the public. “The Human Kind Series” will include works-in-progress presentations, a social networking component, and panels with the Group’s neighbors, experts in aging, and other artists. All project activities are designed to invite audience engagement with the two-year process of creating the piece.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/12/2011 through 09/12/2012
Project Web Site: www.joegoode.org

Founded in 1972 in San Francisco's Chinatown, Kearny Street Workshop has evolved to become a small but highly productive arts institution that presents exhibits, performances, and workshops to diverse Asian, South Asian, and Pacific Islander communities. Recognizing changes in the social and political climate—as well as in funding—the Workshop is engaging an experienced consultant to gather extensive feedback from its constituents in order to determine how it can remain relevant and sustainable.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/28/2011 through 02/28/2012
Project Web Site: www.kearnystreet.org

Founded in the 1970s in response to the military coup in Chile, La Pena Cultural Center has developed into a nationally recognized presenter of traditional music from around the world, a forum for cross-cultural and cross-generational exchange, and a site for community members to take classes in music, dance, and theater. It fosters an array of grassroots arts efforts, from community choruses to teen hip-hop groups. La Pena's mission of contributing to positive social change by creating understanding among people of different cultures is closely aligned with the Fund's Arts goals. A core support grant helps with implementation of a strategic plan, leadership and succession planning, and piloting of arts education programming in East Bay public schools.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2007] , $40,000 [2008] , $40,000 [2009] , $40,000 [2010] , $40,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 11/27/2007 through 11/27/2011
Project Web Site: www.lapena.org

The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre struggled to survive both the deaths of its co-founders in 2010 and an eviction due to a building sale. To save this African American theatre, the board recruited acclaimed American Conservatory Theater actor Steven Anthony Jones as artistic director and hired a dynamic executive director. While honoring the company’s history, Jones believes that African American theater needs to change with the times (and Bay Area demographics) to include more works about cross-cultural and biracial experiences. This grant from the Fund assists the new leadership team and helps sustains the theatre’s vision.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/07/2011 through 09/07/2012
Project Web Site: www.lhtsf.org

San Francisco’s Museum of Craft and Folk Art offers exhibits in traditional arts and contemporary craft along with educational programs for children and adults. For example, a major exhibition coming to MOCFA in 2011 highlights a particular Korean fabric tradition, revealing how contemporary artists revive and re-imagine this old technique. The Fund supplies MOCFA with general operating support.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/28/2011 through 04/28/2012
Project Web Site: www.mocfa.org

In 2007, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund joined funders from across the state in launching the California Cultural Data Project—working to strengthen the arts and culture sector by collecting and disseminating high-quality longitudinal data. The Project database can create trend reports for nonprofits, as well as reports that compare a nonprofit's data to other organizations of similar size, type, or field. With three years of data compiled, the Project is becoming an increasingly useful research source
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 12/01/2010 through 12/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.culturaldata.org

Playwrights Foundation helps plays-in-progress attain increased authenticity by identifying people with a close affinity for the plays' subject matter and involving them in free "Rough Readings." When playwrights hear their work read in front of people familiar with its milieu, the experience and feedback offered helps them to improve the final product. Playwrights Foundation works with many artists of color and its Rough Readings engage culturally diverse community groups in a high-quality, free program.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 03/19/2010 through 03/19/2011
Project Web Site: www.playwrightsfoundation.org

Queer Cultural Center (QCC) presents an annual arts festival that corresponds with San Francisco's Pride Parade. Responding to the need for increased communication and crossover between immigrant artists and San Francisco's established LGBT arts community, QCC developed a curatorial committee of queer immigrants to organize BorderOUT. The BorderOUT showcase of queer immigrant artists' work draws attention to the voices of artists marginalized by race, ethnicity, language, culture, and sexual orientation.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/17/2010 through 05/17/2011
Project Web Site: www.queerculturalcenter.org

Radar Productions produces free events featuring LGBT writers who--despite very different backgrounds, ages, and life experiences--create work which resonates thematically, often addressing questions of equality of opportunity for all members of society. These events serve a multicultural and multi-generational audience. Due to library budget cuts, Radar Productions sought the Fund's assistance in sustaining the series of free readings it presents at the San Francisco Public Library.
Grant Amount: $7,500 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/22/2010 through 09/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.radarproductions.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Intersection for the Arts
San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery is commissioning new works from three Bay Area artists on the subject of race in America. The resulting exhibit will be presented at three highly visible sites—the Gallery itself, San Francisco City Hall, and in the windows of 155 Grove Street. The selected artists bring distinctive perspectives to the topic and their art is intended to foster a conversation about African American history, the legacy of racism, and contemporary African American identity. The exhibition will be accompanied by public symposia, an online presentation, and a catalogue.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/29/2011 through 04/29/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfartscommission.org

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra offers free concerts in venues across the region. These include Main Stage events, Family Concerts, and Very First Concerts for families with young children. The Orchestra adopted an admission-free policy in 2005 because of its deep commitment to breaking down barriers to participation in live music experiences. As audience surveys illustrate, they have been successful in their goals; more than 40% of participants are people of color, over half have small children, and 84.3% said that free admission was a deciding factor. The Fund supports the Orchestra’s free programs in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/07/2011 through 09/07/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfchamberorchestra.org

The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra is the region's oldest professional chamber orchestra. In 2005, it instituted a free admission policy and a membership program. Anyone can attend a concert for free, but members may reserve seats. The Orchestra presents a home series of concerts as well as shorter performances at the Contemporary Jewish Museum and at Freight and Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley. The W&EHF supports the Orchestra's programming, which reaches more than 6,000 people, many of whom say that free admission makes their attendance possible.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/01/2010 through 09/01/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfchamberorchestra.org

Elise Haas was deeply involved in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, founding its conservation department. The museum celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2010 and recently acquired a major new collection. Both developments have increased demands on its conservation staff. The Fund's grant provides general operating support for the conservation department at a time when it is monitoring and conserving the works on exhibit, and while it is working with outside specialists to explore new methods for collection preservation and storage.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfmoma.org

San Francisco Performances educates audiences about the performing arts, reaching people who might not ordinarily seek out a chamber music recital, jazz concert, or dance performance. Its artist-in-residence program features four or five individual artists, duos, or ensembles each year. These resident artists perform free public school programs and neighborhood events and participate in affordable family concerts and adult education programs. Free offerings in 16 Bay Area public schools bring 2,700 students in direct contact with these artists. The Fund supports these efforts to provide free and low-cost music and dance education programs to a broad cross section of Bay Area residents
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.performances.org

San Francisco Theater Festival presents an annual, one-day event featuring 100 brief performances. The Festival attracts culturally and socio-economically diverse audiences and earns their positive feedback. In 2011, the event moved to Fort Mason Center where it is working in partnership with several community cultural centers to produce pre-festival events, such as Spanish-language performances at the Mission Cultural Center. With these efforts and support from the Fund, the Festival seeks to introduce new audiences to theater—including audience members who find ticket costs prohibitive.
Grant Amount: $5,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/13/2011 through 07/13/2012
Project Web Site: www.sftheaterfestival.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Tenants and Owners Development Corporation
Sixth Street Photography Workshop shares the art and skills of photography with people living in poverty. The Fund’s grant supports its photography workshops that specifically serve military veterans, with an emphasis on making new beginnings. Participants will be part of community forums and exhibitions at the new Veterans Resource Center at City College of San Francisco, at the San Francisco VA Medical Center at Fort Miley, and in Veterans Association community-based clinics. The project strives to deepen the broader community’s understanding of veterans and the value of creative arts to their recovery.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 08/15/2011 through 08/15/2012
Project Web Site: www.sixthstreetphoto.net

Few small, independent publishers have sufficient resources to warehouse, market, and distribute their books efficiently to libraries, bookstores, and individual buyers. Small Press Distribution provides these essential services to 421 independent publishers. It also produces programs that connect writers to the public and that build awareness of small press literature. Recently, Small Press Distribution has targeted teenage and college-age readers through events in classrooms and community settings, and older adults through reading groups and author events at senior living facilities. In spite of turbulence in the book industry, Small Press Distribution’s book sales increased by 11% last year. It is launching an eBook service for a number of its publishers in 2012.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/07/2011 through 09/07/2012
Project Web Site: www.spdbooks.org

Fiscal Sponsor: The Playwrights Foundation
Strange Angels, an emerging theater company, is producing an award-winning new play, Hunter's Point, dealing with issues of mental health and homelessness. St. Boniface Church in the Tenderloin, which is deeply committed to providing services for homeless people, will donate the use of its 250-seat theater for performances. Admission will be free. Strange Angels also will lead visual arts and writing workshops for Tenderloin residents in the months before opening so that participants' creations can be presented as spoken-word prefaces to the play or as exhibits at St. Boniface. This production's location and outreach make it likely to connect traditional and low-income audiences.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/04/2011 through 05/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.playwrightsfoundation.org

Managing free public outdoor performances and cultural events at Yerba Buena Gardens and Jessie Square, Yerba Buena Arts and Events reaches thousands of Bay Area residents each year. The Fund's grant helps sustain this diverse, high-quality program of behalf of San Franciscans and visitors who cannot afford ticketed events.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/09/2010 through 04/09/2011
Project Web Site: www.ybae.org

When Europeans arrived in California they found more than fifty native tribes, each with a distinct language. Many of those tribes were dispersed and their languages were lost. To resist further loss, Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival gathers native Californians biannually at UC Berkeley. There, campus scholars work with native Californians to create pronunciation guides and dictionaries and they immerse themselves in speaking indigenous languages. Among languages being revived are those spoken by Ohlone, Miwok, and Pomo tribes of the Bay Area.
Grant Amount: $5,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/12/2010 through 04/12/2011
Project Web Site: www.aicls.org

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts supports and sustains all forms of folk and traditional arts. Many of the artists the Alliance serves are recent immigrants or indigenous Californians working to preserve their cultural traditions in the face of declining opportunity and income. The Fund's grant supports the Alliance in providing grants, technical assistance, development contracts, and apprenticeships to artists and organizations in San Francisco and Alameda counties.
Grant Amount: $120,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.actaonline.org

The Arab Cultural and Community Center offers services to Arab immigrants, focusing on programs for low-income women and children. It also provides a cultural outlet for Arab arts, letters, music, and performances. Support from the Fund helps the Center to enhance its cultural offerings—six on-site performances, workshops, and art exhibits, plus three large-scale, off-site productions. The Center's mission is to boost the pride Arab immigrants have in their cultural heritage and to increase the general public's appreciation of Arab arts and culture.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 03/14/2011 through 03/14/2012
Project Web Site: www.arabculturalcenter.org

In 2011, the Asian Art Museum will produce a multifaceted exhibition of Balinese art and culture. The Museum will coordinate with dozens of Bay Area organizations in order to both develop programs that feature local Balinese groups and in order to bring in master artists from Bali. It will include artist demonstrations and hands-on activities in shadow puppetry, masks, making offerings, and traditional dress. A new musical work, Makrokosma Bali, also will premiere as part of the exhibition. The Fund supports these efforts to build relationships among the local Indonesian communities.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 08/20/2010 through 08/20/2011
Project Web Site: www.asianart.org

Chhandam Chitresh Das Dance Company and its founder, Chitresh Das, are recognized internationally for kathak—a complex solo dance form from India. The Fund supported the Company's strategic planning efforts in 2010. That work suggested some practical changes be made to operations in order to both streamline admissions and redefine administrative roles. This year's support from the Fund helps to implement those changes and create a marketing plan.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/28/2011 through 02/28/2012
Project Web Site: www.kathak.org

Pandit Chitresh Das is an internationally acclaimed Indian kathak dancer whose Chhandam Chitresh Das Dance Company operates a school and offers classes in classical Indian dance around the Bay Area. The Fund's grant supports this dance company in completing a strategic plan, strengthening its youth company, and producing a major festival of Indian classical dance in San Francisco in the Fall of 2010.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/27/2010 through 04/27/2011
Project Web Site: www.kathak.org

The Croatian Cultural Center offers classes in the traditional performing arts of Croatia and the Balkans. In recent years, its constituents have shifted from a primarily Croatian population to one that encompasses Balkan immigrants and refugees including Romani, Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Bosnians. The Center's cultural programming is extraordinary for navigating the national, ethnic, and religious tensions among these groups. In 2011, with assistance from the Fund, it will produce four cross-cultural festivals, culturally specific programs, and a children's dance program. The center serves 20,000 people, 80% of them of Balkan descent.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.croatianamericanweb.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Dance Brigade
The annual CubaCaribe Festival, held over a three-week period, offers eleven performance and educational events featuring outstanding local, national, and international Caribbean artists. With support from the Fund, the 2010 festival focused on artists from Haiti and New Orleans, illustrating the long history of cultural exchange these communities share. The well-attended Festival strengthens the modest but thriving community of Caribbean artists in the Bay Area.
Grant Amount: $7,500 [2010]
Project Dates: 03/19/2010 through 03/19/2011
Project Web Site: www.cubacaribe.org

Gamelan Sekar Jaya is a widely acclaimed ensemble of Balinese musicians and dancers. Each year the ensemble hosts outstanding artists from Bali who teach classes and develop new material with local musicians and dancers. In 2010, Gamelan Sekar Jaya is hosting two extraordinary guest dance directors who will visit public schools, lead after-school classes, and work with professional artists. These efforts broaden public awareness of Balinese art forms and keep the nuances of these forms alive among local artists.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.gsj.org

Each August the Korean American Community Center presents a two-day contemporary and traditional Korean arts festival featuring major artists from Korea and the United States. The festival's programs attract thousands of people to events at Union Square and the Palace of Fine Arts. Managed by a loyal group of volunteers, the Festival contributes to the retention of Korean cultural traditions.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/20/2010 through 05/20/2011

Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center offers music and dance classes in traditional and popular Mexican genres that are attended weekly by 200 children and youth, manages a critically acclaimed group of touring musicians, and produces community events. Its Cultures of Mexico in California project uses DVDs and CDs developed by Los Cenzontles as centerpieces for community events that also incorporate live performances, lecture-demonstrations, and discussion. This project's goal is to facilitate the generational transfer and preservation of traditional art forms from Mexico within the Bay Area's Mexican American community; to bring together recent immigrants from Mexico with second- and third-generation Mexican Americans on a subject of common interest; and to educate the broader public about authentic versions of these art forms.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2008] , $30,000 [2009] , $30,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/21/2008 through 11/21/2011
Project Web Site: www.loscenzontles.com

Alameda county's current Mongolian population exceeds 5,000. The API Cultural Center in Oakland's Chinatown serves as an important venue for these Mongolian-Americans and for other members of the region's diverse Asian population. Since 2009, the Center has partnered with the "Ger" Youth Center to offer classes in Mongolian dance. Support from the Fund helps the Center expand its Mongolian cultural offerings to include classes in language and calligraphy, fostering cultural pride in an under-resourced community.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/24/2010 through 09/24/2011
Project Web Site: www.oacc.cc

An estimated 1,800 Tibetans live in the greater Bay Area. Each week, 120 children and youth from this community gather at the Berkeley Adult School campus for classes in Tibetan language, calligraphy, and performing arts. School enrollment is growing, classes in music and dance are expanding, and new Tibetan arts and cultural values programs are planned. The Fund’s grant provides general support to this school and its work with other North American Tibetan centers to create a standardized curriculum for teaching the Tibetan language to children who do not speak it regularly in the home. The Fund’s grant also allows the Association to hire more music instructors and to plan an intensive summer program.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/27/2011 through 09/27/2012
Project Web Site: www.tanc.org

World Arts West sustains culturally specific dance in Northern California, strengthening networks within recent immigrant communities and building bridges between different cultures. Its auditions and main stage events serve new immigrant groups, and second-, third-, and fourth-generation residents. The Fund provides general operating support for World Arts West's ethnic dance festival and helps the organization create other opportunities for ethnic dance artists.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.worldartswest.org

As producer of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, World Arts West is critical to the Bay Area's large field of culturally specific dance. Its recently completed strategic plan proposes splitting the Festival from a single, uniformly produced show into smaller events and education programs that will present varied opportunities to participate. Formats will include salons, demonstrations, cabaret-style events, and classes in addition to large-scale productions. The Fund provides World Arts West with general operating support for the Festival and its auditions.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.worldartswest.org

Luna Kids Dance provides its thoughtful dance education program in a cluster of Oakland Public schools. Recently, Luna had an extraordinary opportunity to move its office and dance studios to a corporate facility in Emeryville, rent-free. Luna created a modest capital campaign to cover moving, building a sprung dance floor, rewiring the space, and other related costs. It used the campaign as an opportunity to challenge its board to set and meet a fundraising goal. The Fund's grant matches the money the board raised and provides the balance Luna needed to complete the project.
Grant Amount: $3,500 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/10/2011 through 02/10/2012
Project Web Site: www.lunadanceinstitute.org

In 1999, responding to booming real estate costs and a shared need to relocate, four of the Bay Area's leading nonprofit media arts organizations banded together to purchase a building, share back-office equipment and staff, and create affordable rental space for other nonprofits. The nonprofit Ninth Street Independent Media Consortium was formed to manage the building. When one partner faced bankruptcy in 2008, it jeopardized the other partners' shared assets in the building. The Consortium launched a $350,000 campaign to buy out the threatened partner's equity share and the Walter & Elise Haas Fund made a three-year $100,000 program related investment. In 2011, the Fund transforms this PRI into a grant rather than extend the loan period.
Grant Amount: $100,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.ninthstreet.org

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is co-producing The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde, a major touring exhibition about the collections and influence of author Gertrude Stein, her brothers Leo and Michael Stein, and Michael's wife Sarah Stein. The exhibit will include paintings owned by Elise Haas, who was a friend of Sarah and Michael Stein. Elise Haas established a Sarah and Michael Stein Memorial Collection at SFMOMA in 1953. This grant is split $60,000/$40,000 between the Arts and the Other Grantmaking Interests programs. The listing has been duplicated in both areas.
Grant Amount: $100,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfmoma.org