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Fund For Artists

$1 Million Fund For Artists: Overview

Forging an innovative collaborative effort between Bay Area Community Foundations, individual donors, and the Irvine, Hewlett, Surdna, and Ford Foundations, the Fund For Artists supports the endeavors of individual artists through commissions, artists' residencies, awards, advocacy, workshops, promotional instruction, and networking support. The San Francisco Foundation strongly believes in the importance and value of our local artists and their work. We are dedicated to giving a voice to artists within our community.

For more information on the Bay Area arts scene, please download this survey of local artists: Information for Artists III (PDF) by Joan Jeffri.

For insight and perspective, read this in-depth interview with Bay Area choreographers Brenda Way and Alonzo King by our program officer for arts and culture, John Killacky.

Listen here as John Killacky gives a perspective on KQED explaining the value of local arts and artists in our community.

 

The San Francisco Foundation Bay Area Documentary Fund

Many award-winning documentaries have emerged from the San Francisco Bay Area. In recognition of this fine tradition, we have created The San Francisco Foundation Bay Area Documentary Fund. Four or five awards ranging from $20,000 to $25,000 will be distributed annually to support documentary projects in early production phases by experienced filmmakers with an esteemed body of previously created work. The Foundation is interested in documentaries exploring issues that have been historically underexposed, misinterpreted, or ignored and that are pertinent to the five Bay Area counties we serve. Individual filmmakers must be fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in the five-county Bay Area.

37 applications were received for the 2009 San Francisco Foundation Bay Area Documentary Fund and 5 films were funded.

NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications for the third and final round of the Bay Area Documentary Fund are due Thursday, September 2, 2010. Please click here to view the Grants & Awards page. Please contact Kevin Seaman, Arts and Culture program assistant, at kls@sff.org with questions.

2009 Awardees

  • Eugene Corr's From Ghost Town to Havana, a feature-length documentary following the lives of six boys as they travel from West Oakland to Havana, Cuba to play baseball with six Centro Habana boys.
  • Megan Gelstein's Green Shall Overcome, a feature-length documentary about Van Jones and the green collar economy.
  • Peter Nicks' The Waiting Room, a feature-length documentary film revealing how the health care crisis affects those most at risk during this unique time and how the physical waiting room is a symbol of their plight.
  • Tamara Perkin's The Trust, a documentary that explores how and why children follow their families into generational cycles of poverty and recidivism.
  • Ken Paul Rosenthal's Crooked Beauty, an experimental documentary on mental illness.

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Fund For Artists Matching Commissions

Now in its fourth and final year at The San Francisco Foundation, the Fund For Artists Matching Commissions seek to support the development of new work by Bay Area artists and at the same time help small- to mid-sized arts groups diversify funding by attracting individual donors. A collaborative project between The San Francisco Foundation and East Bay Community Foundation, the Fund For Artists Matching Commissions have given $658,750 to commission 116 projects involving 181 artists and have attracted $729,254 from 3,130 donors.

This year, The San Francisco Foundation is again challenging organizations in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin Counties to raise up to $10,000 in matching funds from individual donors. Selected applications will have up to three months after notification to raise matching dollars from individuals. The East Bay Community Foundation will offer Matching Commissions to Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

HOW TO APPLY: Applications for the 2010 Fund For Artists Matching Commissions are now closed. Please check back in October for a complete list of awardees.

2009 Awardees

Brian Thorstenson / Alternative Theater Ensemble

Anthony Brown / Fifth Stream Music

Amy Seiwert / im’ij-re

Seng Chen and Allan Manalo / Kearny Street Workshop

Alexis Alrich, Moses Sedler, and Katrina Wreede / Mill Valley Philharmonic

Travis Meinolf / Museum of Craft and Folk Art

Marcus Shelby / Peninsula Ballet Theatre

Ali Liebegott / RADAR Productions

Gail Wight / San Francisco Center for the Book

Gabriela Frank / San Francisco Chamber Orchestra

Beth Custer / San Francisco Cinematheque

Joanna Haigood / Zaccho Dance Theatre

To see past Fund For Artists Matching Commissions Awardees, please visit the Arts Awards Archive.

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Studies Reveal Matching Commissions and Data-based Strategies Make the Difference: Bay Area Artists Raise $1.3 Million in Tough Economy

May 2010

FFAMC Survey artists.jpg
Fund For Artist grantee The Sangati Ensemble at a house concert. Photograph: Harsal Jawale

A study on the arts community and arts donors chronicles how artists and small- to mid-size arts groups found creative ways to engage new donors in supporting new work, and uncovers donors’ motivations to give. Additionally, a survey of how Bay Area artists are faring in the economic downturn offers further detail on the needs of the creative community.

It’s Not About You…It’s About Them, A Research Report: What Motivates Bay Area Donors to Give to the Arts and Artists and the accompanying Field Reports from the Fund For Artists Matching Commissions Program: Unlocking the Potential of Individual Donors, released May 25th by The San Francisco Foundation and East Bay Community Foundation, reveal that despite the challenging economic environment, individual donors and local foundations jointly funded 181 Bay Area artists to support the creation of 116 new works. The study tells the stories of six artists and small to mid-size arts groups who leveraged the matching funds to generate resources for their artistic projects.

The study offers practical tools and tips to individual artists and small arts groups for raising funds for new artistic work. It identifies five underlying values and motivations associated with individual donor giving to artistic projects:

  • Localism – a concern for one’s community and for artists living in the community
  • Progressivism – an interest in being “on the leading edge of art and ideas”
  • Humanism – a concern for social justice and equal opportunity
  • Distinction – an interest in “great works that have stood the test of time” and artists with national or international reputations
  • Bonding – an interest in civic affairs and community improvement; appetite for expanding social networks and making new friends

The study surveyed 1,900 individual donors involved with the Matching Commissions program and 8,500 donors to 17 mid- and large-sized cultural organizations in the Bay Area. Based on in-depth interviews with more than 70 of these donors, results show that making one or more of the following four connection points with prospective donors can increase the likelihood of giving:

  • A personal relationship with the artist or someone in the arts
  • A passion for the art form or the art medium
  • An emotional or intellectual interest in the subject matter or issue
  • An involvement with the culture or community involved in the project

This data builds on Leveraging Investments in Creativity’s (LINC) report, The Artists and the Economic Recession Survey: A Report Comparing Main Survey Artists and Artists Who Live or Work in the Bay Area, revealing the affects the recession has had on artists in the Bay Area and nationwide. It reports a drop in sales of art work (52% Bay Area and 48% national), grant amounts (43% Bay Area and 37% national), and teaching opportunities (34% Bay Area and 30% national). Bay Area artists are extremely concerned about being able to fundraise for future projects (42% Bay Area and 34% national). The survey also showed that most artists earn income primarily from non-arts related work (66% Bay Area and 64% national).

Download the reports:

It’s Not About You…It’s About Them, A Research Report: What Motivates Bay Area Donors to Give to the Arts and Artists and the accompanying Field Reports from the Fund For Artists Matching Commissions Program: Unlocking the Potential of Individual Donors were conducted by Helicon Collaborative in partnership with WolfBrown. This research was made possible by support from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, LINC, East Bay Community Foundation, Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, and The San Francisco Foundation.

LINC’s The Artists and the Economic Recession Survey: A Report Comparing Main Survey Artists and Artists Who Live or Work in the Bay Area was conducted in partnership with the Helicon Collaborative and Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The San Francisco Foundation and East Bay Community Foundation supported LINC in disseminating the survey to Bay Area artists and have also worked extensively with LINC since 2004 when the Bay Area was identified as one of LINC’s Creative Communities. LINC is a ten-year, nationwide initiative to improve the conditions for artists working in all disciplines.

Read the news release here.

PHOTO: Fund For Artist Matching Commissions grantee the Sangati Ensemble at a house concert. Photograph: Harsal Jawale

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The Fund For Artists Arts Teacher Fellowship Program (FFAATF)

A retired grant program, FFAATF was a regional initiative to support the artistic revitalization of outstanding arts teachers in Bay Area middle and high schools. Arts teachers often lack time and resources to reconnect with other arts professionals and with the artistic processes they teach, FFAATF allowed fellows to design individualized courses of study that fostered their own creative work and to interact with other professional artists in their fields.

Modeled upon Surdna Foundation’s Artist Teacher Fellowship Program, FFAATF approached artistic development as a means to enhance arts teachers’ effectiveness and to directly benefit young people.

This program was part of the Fund For Artists partnership with the East Bay Community Foundation and The San Francisco Foundation and was supported by the Surdna Foundation.

To see past Arts Teacher Fellowship Program Awardees, please visit the Arts Awards Archive.

 

Shenson Performing Arts Fellowships

A pre-selected group of arts organizations that provide excellent professional-track performing arts training and performance opportunities were invited to nominate an exemplary pre-professional performing artist (above 18 yrs of age) for a $5,000 award to assist with their professional advancement. Fellowships were based on the nominee’s artistic merit and their potential for future excellence and impact in his or her performing arts discipline.

The Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson Foundation at The San Francisco Foundation was established in 1995 by brothers Ben and A. Jess Shenson who were passionate about encouraging pre-professional students in the performing arts. These fellowships will be awarded in their memory.

The Shenson Fellowships are awarded through nominations by select arts teaching organizations, and no general public applications are available.

2010 Awardees

  • Mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani with San Francisco Opera and Merola Opera Program
  • Actor Patrick Lane with American Conservatory Theatre
  • Dancer Michael Montgomery with Alonzo King's LINES Ballet
  • Director Abigail Simon with Magic Theatre
  • Dancer Raymond Tilton with San Francisco Ballet

To see past Shenson Performing Arts Fellowships Awardees, please visit the Arts Awards Archive.

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