Creative Work Fund
Contact information:
c/o The Walter and Elise Haas Fund
One Lombard, Suite 305
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: 415-402-2793
Website: http://www.creativeworkfund.org/index.html
Type of foundation: Program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, also supported by funding from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation.
Types of grants: Project
Description: The Creative Work Fund invites artists and nonprofit organizations to create new art works through collaboration. The Fund was launched in 1994 by a group of foundations in response to declining support for artists and new art works. It is now a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and receives additional support from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation. The Creative Work Fund awards grants for collaborations between nonprofit organizations and media artists, performing artists, literary artists, visual artists and traditional artists. Media artists are defined as artists who “create narrative, documentary, animated, or experimental time-based works using audio, digital, film and/or video media. Computer arts also are included in this category.”
Sample media arts grants (amounts unspecified):
- COLAGE collaborating with media artist Jen Gilomen to create “Family Time,” a short film and Web-based piece tracing two decades of evolution in the concept of family as experienced by people with one or more Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Queer (LGBTQ) parents.
- Contemporary Jewish Museum collaborating with new media artist Ken Goldberg to create Are We There Yet? an interactive and site-specific work that incorporates new technology to provoke timeless questions about cultural and individual identity, community, and contemporary experience. The finished work will be an interactive Website and site-specific, sound installation.
- Kids’ Turn and fiscal sponsor Maiden Voyage collaborating with Ellen Bruno to create SPLIT, a one-hour documentary film exploring the inner world of children who are maneuvering through the often frightening and always life altering separation of their parents.
- Southern Exposure collaborating with artist R. Lee Montgomery and members of Neighborhood Public Radio to create “Radio Cartography,” engaging artists, youth, Mission District residents and Bay Area audiences in developing original radio programming about exploring and mapping public space.
Fit for public broadcasting: The Creative Work Fund is open to any type of nonprofit organization interested in collaborating with an artist, including public media. It could be an interesting option for media outlets interested in arts projects that spur community engagement, reach into specific communities, etc.
Eligibility: Project lead artists must live and their collaborating organizations must be based in the following 14 counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and Stanislaus. There is no restriction on the type of non-profit organization with which artists can collaborate. The lead artist may not be a staff or board member of the applying non-profit organization.
Deadline: Letters of inquiry must be received by December 2, 2011. Grants will be awarded in June 2012.
How to apply: Instructions for preparing an application are available here. Grants are paid to the collaborating 501(c) (3) organizations as soon as required paperwork is received.
Giving range: $10,000 to $40,000.
Total giving: Approximately $810,000 is available for 2011-2012 awards to media arts or performing arts projects. Grants will range from $10,000 to $40,000.
