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 the Grants & Awards page in the Arts & Culture section of our site. 

For information on the Fund for Artists Awards, the Fund For Artists Matching Commissions, and the Shenson Performing Arts Fellowships, please visit our Fund For Artists page in the Arts & Culture section of our site.

Literary Awards

The distinguished Joseph Henry Jackson, James Duval Phelan, and Mary Tanenbaum Literary Awards provide $2,000 each to three literary artists who work in any one of the following literary forms qualify: fiction (novel or short stories), nonfictional prose, graphic novels, poetry, spoken word, plays, and scripts. Awards are intended to encourage emerging artists not yet established in the genre who are either California-born or currently residing in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, or San Mateo County, for an unpublished manuscript-in-progress. In addition to the cash award, 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.

PROCESS: The Literary Awards are by nomination only and therefore The San Francisco Foundation is not soliciting applications. The Foundation identifies nominators and jurors who are established Bay Area literary artists and possess extensive knowledge of local artists in the various genres that the Awards seek to recognize.

• Joseph Henry Jackson Literary Award

• James Duval Phelan Award

• Tanenbaum Award in Nonfiction

Page McBee - In recognition of her outstanding non-fiction manuscript, This Fragile Fortress.

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. In previous years, The San Francisco Foundation has offered the Phelan visual arts awards in film, photography, printmaking, and video. The Phelan award will now be given in conjunction with the Murphy & Cadogan Awards for MFA students and also through the Bay Area Documentary Fund.

James D. Phelan Art Award through the Bay Area Documentary Fund

2009 Awardee

Eugene Corr - To support 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.

Previous James D. Phelan Art Awards

James D. Phelan Art Award in Photography administered by SF Camerawork (Retired)

2009 Awardees
Doris Jew Conrath, Burien, WA; Jim Stone, Albuquerque, NM

To see past Photography Awardees, click here.

James D. Phelan Art Award in Printmaking administered by Kala Art Institute (Retired)

2009 Awardees
Harry Clewans and Maizie Gilbert. Honorable Mention: Sarah Newton

To see past Printmaking Awardees, click here.

James D. Phelan Award in Film, Video, and Digital Media administered by Bay Area Video Coalition and the Film Arts Foundation (Retired)

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.

James D. Phelan, Jack & Gertrude Murphy, Edwin Anthony & Adelaine Bordeaux Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts

In support of exemplary student artists, the Phelan, 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 digital art, illustration, film/video, hybrid practice, installation, mixed media, painting, photography, sculpture, filmmaking, performance art, choreography, and music composition. The number of awards vary per year.

Eligibility

Applicants for the 2010 awards must be fine arts MFA students actively pursuing a graduate degree at the Academy of Art University, California College of the Arts, John F. Kennedy University, Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, Stanford University, or the University of California, Berkeley.

Students must have completed at least one semester of graduate study as of the first of the current calendar year, and must be continuously enrolled in the same program and in good standing through the same year. The award funds will be sent to the student’s financial aid account via the school’s financial aid office. Fellowship award recipients may be required to provide proof of continuing school enrollment.

Artwork submitted must have been completed by the student in the past two years. Work must be created by a sole applicant; collaborations are not accepted. Previous winners of Murphy or Cadogan Fellowships may not apply again.

NEXT APPLICATION DEADLINE: The application deadline for the 2010 Phelan, Murphy, and Cadogan Fellowships has now passed. Please check back in April 2011 for the next application deadline. Announcements for the 2010 awards will be made in summer 2010.

2009 Awardees

Miguel Arzabe, University of California Berkeley; Mary Baldwin, California College of the Arts; Michael Barrett, Academy of Art University; Bonnie Begusch, University of California Berkeley; Oscar Bucher, San Francisco State University; Carlos Castro, San Francisco Art Institute; Emily Dippo, San Francisco Art Institute; Llewelynn Fletcher, California College of the Arts; Matt Kennedy, San Francisco State University; Ace Lehner, California College of the Arts; Bobby Lukas, Mills College; Eric Martin, California College of the Arts; Susan Martin, San Francisco Art Institute; Armando Miguelez, Stanford University; Kusum Nairi, San Francisco Art Institute; Ruth Robbins, California College of the Arts; Eirini Steirou, San Francisco State University; Rebecca Wallace, California College of the Arts; Doug Williams, Mills College; Sune Woods, California College of the Arts; Wafaa Yasin, California College of the Arts; Daniel Yovino, 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.

2009 Awardee
Sean McFarland, San Francisco

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. The 2010 nomination process is now closed. For more information, visit the Community Leadership Awards page.

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