Art Awards

About the Art Awards Program

The San Francisco Foundation is proud to sponsor a variety of artistic awards that help foster individual growth within our community through its Art Awards Program. For more information about any of the Foundation's awards or scholarships, please email us. 

For information about our Competitive Grant Program and Mini-Grants, please visit our Grants & Awards page. 

For information on the Fund for Artists Awards, the Fund for Artists Matching Commissions, the Fund for Artists Arts Teacher Fellowships, and the Shenson Performing Arts Fellowships, please visit our Fund for Artists page.

For a complete overview of all Arts and Culture Program Grants and Awards please click here.

Join us for the 2008 Art Awards Celebration!

Each year, The San Francisco Foundation is proud to sponsor the Art Awards Program, fostering individual growth and excellence in the Bay Area artists.  Last year, we granted  over $255,000 to 54 individual artists in different stages of their careers and development, from students to mid-career artists to veteran artists. 

In the spirit of honoring arts awardees, partners, and jurors who reflect the strength and diversity of our arts community, we invite you to join us in celebrating the 2008 Arts Award recipients.

This year, the Arts Award Celebration will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, October 20. Our guests of honor are this year's artist award winners and honorees – poets, writers, sculptors, painters, filmmakers, media artists, photographers, printmakers, and performing artists. You and your friends and family are invited to meet one another, learn more about each other's work, and celebrate the creative spirit. To RSVP, please contact Kevin Seaman at kls@sff.org or 415.733.8508.

Literary Awards

The distinguished Joseph Henry Jackson, James Duval Phelan, and Mary Tanenbaum Literary Awards, sponsored by The San Francisco Foundation and administered by Intersection for the Arts since 1991, are offered annually in the amount of $2,000 or $3,000 each to encourage young writers (20 to 35 years old), who are either California-born or currently residing in Northern California or Nevada, for an unpublished manuscript-in-progress. In addition to the cash award, winners will be invited to participate in a public reading at Intersection for the Arts, and the winning manuscripts will be permanently housed at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library.

• Joseph Henry Jackson moved to California after WWI and became editor of Sunset Magazine from 1926-28. From 1924-1943 he hosted the radio program "Bookman's Guide," and in 1930 he became literary editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, continuing in that role for the rest of his life and gaining national prominence. He was also the author or editor of some dozen books, often concerning California history. He served on many literary boards, including the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Harper Prize Novel, and the Pulitzer Prize. In his book columns and by personal contact, Jackson was always interested in discovering and encouraging new writers. Appropriately, his friends established the Jackson Award after his death in 1955.

• James Duval Phelan was born, raised, and educated in San Francisco before entering the family banking business. In 1897 he ran for mayor of San Francisco, was elected and re-elected twice, gaining a great reputation for drafting a new city charter and beautifying the city through new parks and playgrounds. Later elected to the U.S. Senate, he served as a Democrat from 1915 to 1921. During his lifetime he encouraged and financially aided writers, artists, and musicians, for whom he provided very generously through his will after his death in 1930.

• Mary Tanenbaum began her career as a journalist after graduating from Stanford in 1936. Her first work was book reviewing with Joseph Henry Jackson for the San Francisco Chronicle, and her articles on books, travel, fashion, and personalities have appeared in the Chronicle, The New York Times, and The Christian Science Monitor. The Mary Tanenbaum Award was made permanent in 2000 by her husband Charles in memory of Ms. Tanenbaum's legacy as an author.

Eligibility

Joseph Henry Jackson Literary Award
Applicants must be residents of northern California or the state of Nevada for three consecutive years immediately prior to the contest deadline. The unpublished work in progress may be fiction (novel or short stories), nonfiction prose, or poetry. An award of $3,000 is presented to the winner.

James Duval Phelan Literary Award
Applicants must have been born in the state of California, but need not be current residents. The unpublished work-in-progress submitted may be fiction, nonfiction prose, poetry, or drama. An award of $2,000 is presented to the winner.

Tanenbaum Award in Nonfiction
Applicants must be residents of northern California or the state of Nevada for three consecutive years immediately prior to the contest deadline. An award of $2,000 is presented to the winner.

NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 31, 2009. Applications will be available from our awards partner, Intersection for the Arts after Friday, February 15, 2009.

• Joseph Henry Jackson Literary Award
  Nathanael Malae - In recognition of his outstanding fiction manuscript, What We Are.
• James Duval Phelan Award
  Tung-Hui Hu - In recognition of his outstanding poetry manuscript Assigned to Okinawa.
• Tanenbaum Award in Nonfiction
  Roxanna Font - In recognition of her outstanding non-fiction manuscript The Fig Tree.

To see past Literary Awardees, click here.

James D. Phelan Art Awards

The James D. Phelan Art Awards were established by the trust of James D. Phelan (1861-1930), former San Francisco Mayor, United States Senator, and arts supporter, to recognize the achievements of California-born artists in a variety of disciplines. The San Francisco Foundation sponsors the annual competitions to recognize the achievements of California-born artists in four different disciplines: film, photography, printmaking, and video. Awards are made in film and video in even-numbered years and in photography and printmaking in odd-numbered years.

Eligibility

Winning applicants will be asked to provide copies of their birth certificates. There are no age restrictions for these awards. Up to six awards ($2,500 to $7,500) are made each year. The competitions are administered in partnership with four community-based arts organizations and are only open to California-born artists.

A.)  James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography

The Phelan Award in Photography is administered by SF Camerawork. Three awards of $2,500 each are given in odd years, and winners are showcased at SF Camerawork in a group exhibition.

NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 2009.

2007 Awardees
Geoffrey Ellis, San Francisco; Apollonia Morrill, Berkeley; Walt Odets, Berkeley

To see past Photography Awardees, click here.

B.)  James D. Phelan Art Award in Printmaking

The Phelan Award in Printmaking is administered by The Kala Art Institute. The awards are made to two artists in 2007; each will receive $4,000 and be invited to participate in a group exhibition in the Kala Art Institute's gallery.

NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE: The Phelan Award in Printmaking is awarded on odd-numbered years. The next award will be given out in 2009.  Applications will be due at Kala in May 2009. Check our website after January 15, 2009, to download the application.

2007 Awardees
Diane Rosenblum Althoff,  Randy Hussong

To see past Printmaking Awardees, click here.

C.)  James D. Phelan Award in Film, Video, and Digital Media

The San Francisco Foundation is honored to announce the 13^th biennial James D. Phelan Art Award in Video, Film, and Digital Media.  In partnership with the Bay Area Video Coalition and the Film Arts Foundation, we will award one $10,000 prize and two $5,000 prizes.  The Phelan Awards are given to California-born media artists whose body of work merits recognition for its creativity, innovation, and contribution to the fields of film, video, and digital media. Eligible platforms include film, analog and digital time-based video, installation work, web, interactive and mobile media, and hybrid projects.

NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE: Online applications and mailed work samples must be submitted to arrive by 5:00 pm on March 31, 2009. Award winners will be notified by May 30, 2009.

2008 Awardees

Veteran documentary filmmaker Emiko Omori ($10,000); Experimental artists Patty Chang ($5,000); Experimental artist Cauleen Smith ($5,000).

To see past Film, Video, and Digital Media Awardees, click here. 

Murphy and Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts

In support of emerging student artists, the Murphy and Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts offer multiple awards of $3,500 to Bay Area fine arts graduate students for continued academic study. These fellowships assist local artists in developing and exploring their artistic potential. In addition to the monetary award, the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery sponsors an annual exhibit featuring the work of the Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship winners. The number of awards vary per year.

Eligibility

Applicants must be a graduate fine arts student at one of the following eight Bay Area colleges and universities:  Academy of Art College, California College of the Arts, John F. Kennedy University, Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley.

NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 2, 2009. Application notices will be placed in the departmental mailboxes of first year MFAs in late February 2009.

2008 Awardees
Brendan Ahearn, San Francisco State University; Michael Arcega, Stanford University; Elisheva Biernoff, California College of the Arts; Tom Borden, San Francisco Art Institute; Modesto Covarrubias, Mills College; Eilish Cullen, San Francisco State University; April Grayson, San Francisco Art Institute; Claire Jackel, San Francisco Art Institute; Anthony Marcellini, California College of the Arts; Robert Minervini, San Francisco Art Institute; Robert Moya, San Francisco Art Institute; Michael Namkung, San Francisco State University; Moses Nornberg, California College of the Arts; Daniel Ochoa, Academy of Art University; S Patricia Patterson, San Francisco Art Institute; Hilary Pecis, California College of the Arts; Jeff  Ray, San Francisco State University; Gina Tuzzi, Mills College; Jina Valentine, Stanford University; Annie Vought, Mills College; Sara Wanie, San Francisco Art Institute; Andrew Witrak, Mills College; Imin Yeh, California College of the Arts; David Yun, San Francisco Art Institute

To see past Murphy & Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts Awardees, click here.

John Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award

Established by the internationally recognized photographer, John Gutmann (1905-1998), the John Gutmann Photography Fellowship awards $5,000 to $10,000 annually to an emerging artist who exhibits professional accomplishment, serious artistic commitment, and need in the field of creative photography.

Eligibility

The Gutmann award is determined by nomination only, and nominees are selected by jurors who were appointed by John Gutmann. For more information on John Gutmann, the award, and the jurors, visit: www.johngutmann.org/jurors.

NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE: There are no applications for this award. Only applicant names submitted by a nominating jury will be considered.

2007 Awardee
Allison Marie Sexton

"I was seventeen when our house was raided for crack-cocaine, and that home was literally swept from beneath me.  When my mother became a fugitive I found myself young, confused and literally adrift.  I turned to photography because of its innate ability to preserve all that will eventually be lost.  Before the State seized that house, I photographed it furiously in order to reclaim it as my own and make it pocketable: the rotting front door I loved; myself in each room; and the spot in the yard where our dog had been buried."

To see past John Gutmann Photography Fellowship Awardees, click here.

In the spirit of Helen Crocker Russell Community Leadership Award

For a mature, under-recognized artist for significant contributions to bay area arts. Public nominations will be accepted early in 2009. To nominate, go to the Community Leadership Awards page.

To see past in the spirit of Helen Crocker Russell Community Leadership Awardees, click here.