Consortium of Seven San Francisco Cultural Centers Launch Grant Program to Support Reopening of Arts and Culture Nonprofits

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A consortium of seven San Francisco Cultural Centers announce the availability of post-COVID-19 reopening grants for nonprofits that practice and perform artistic and cultural forms of creative activity, expression, preservation, and community wellness, reflective of the communities they serve. The grant program, administered by Community Vision Capital & Consulting and funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission, will provide funding for one-time physical and virtual reopening expenses in San Francisco. Eligible organizations with physical spaces can apply to receive grants of up to $35,000, and eligible organizations with virtual spaces can apply to receive grants of up to $10,000. Eligible organizations with both physical and virtual spaces can apply for both grants for up to $45,000.

Priority will go to projects led by organizations that are driving change and amplifying visions for their own communities, organizations with annual revenue budgets of under $250,000, and investments that will serve organizations beyond post-COVID reopening. 

"Investing in the arts, especially now, is critical to ensuring the long-term health of our communities," said Catherine Howard, President of Community Vision. "We are grateful to the talented leaders of San Francisco's Cultural Centers for using their deep expertise to steward this program and support arts and culture reopening efforts in their neighborhoods."

Organizations are invited to submit an application by 12pm PST on Friday, October 8, 2021. Awards will be announced the week of November 8, 2021. Submission information is available at communityvisionca.org/sf-arts-reopening-fund

The following general eligibility criteria will be used:

• Must be a registered, 501(c)3 tax-exempt nonprofit, or be fiscally sponsored by one.
• Must practice and perform artistic and cultural forms of creative activity, expression, preservation, and community wellness, reflective of the communities they serve.
• Organizations with physical spaces must rent or own a property located in San Francisco that is used for public art production and performance. 
• Organizations reopening virtually are those creating or expanding an online presence of the organization that displays or presents art online and furthers online interaction between artists and their audiences. 
• Must have an annual revenue budget of less than $1 million for the current and previous fiscal year. 
• Organizations must have provided public arts programming in San Francisco since at least January 2018.

Community Vision will review applications for eligibility before presenting a final pool of applicants to the consortium of seven San Francisco Cultural Centers for final funding decisions. In 2021, the Cultural Centers came together to form a unified BIPOC-led partnership whose vision and directive will govern local grantmaking programs, including the San Francisco Arts Reopening Fund.

"As stewards of community arts in San Francisco, the seven Cultural Centers are thrilled to present such an innovative program," said representatives of the Consortium. "This program enables us to give grants directly to arts and culture groups in our communities."   

The San Francisco Arts Reopening Fund is a program of a consortium of the seven San Francisco Cultural Centers designated by the San Francisco Arts Commission. Each Center is a cornerstone of the arts in the communities they serve. Together, the Cultural Centers act as a new community arts intermediary in San Francisco. 

Community Vision Capital & Consulting is a CDFI working throughout California with offices in San Francisco, Oakland, and Fresno. Since its inception, Community Vision has supported 2.5M Californians, deployed more than $483M in capital, and provided more than 1,000 real estate and financial management consults.

SOURCE Community Vision

Related Links

https://communityvisionca.org/