The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is seeking applications for its Arts & Culture Community Action Grants Program to support BIPOC-led arts and cultural organizations and allied organizations that prioritize nurturing artistic and cultural expressions, building community, partnering to create community-driven solutions, and catalyzing social change in communities of color.
Donor Name: Silicon Valley Community Foundation
State: California
Counties: San Mateo County (CA), Santa Clara County (CA)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/11/2022
Size of the Grant: $30,000
Details:
SVCF’s Arts and Culture Fund prioritizes organizations that advance arts and culture programs and community actions in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Specifically, the fund supports organizations rooted in community history and cultural traditions and that promote the distribution of stories and ideas. Our foundation’s vision sees these grants helping amplify and distribute the untold and under-told stories and ideas from communities of color, reflecting the diverse experiences of those who have been suppressed by the dominant culture. SVCF is interested in strengthening the creative sector and the arts and culture ecosystem from Daly City to Gilroy to ensure that all communities have equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which is essential to creating a strong and engaged community.
The work that the Arts and Culture Fund supports is part of a long-term strategy to achieve systemic change in Silicon Valley. Organizations seeking to apply should have a clear focus on racial justice and a plan to center the community they are serving in leadership, design, and implementation of programs. Priority will be given to BIPOC-led and allied arts and culture organizations rooted in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties and those with annual budgets under $1 million.
Grants will be for general and program support to nonprofit organizations that demonstrate all of the following:
- Vision, mission, and goals explicitly focus on arts and culture work
- Prioritize engagement of BIPOC communities
- Commit to partnerships with others while centering trusted community residents in their work
- Facilitate community-embedded arts practices providing support structures for working artists, cultural workers, and community residents engaged in developing and sharing work that reflects the community’s history and aspirations for change
- Address emerging community needs with projects designed with community residents who are working for social and racial justice
Funding Information
The maximum grant amount will be $30,000.
Eligibility Criteria
Organizations must serve San Mateo and/or Santa Clara counties. Organizations headquartered outside the two-county region may apply but should demonstrate significant service to these areas or partner with a local organization that does.
- Organizations must have a 501(c)(3) designation or have a fiscal sponsor with a 501(c)(3) designation.
- Organizations must not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, citizenship status, creed, religion, religious affiliation, age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.
- Organizations with religious affiliations will be considered for funding only if the project for which they seek support addresses the needs of the wider community without regard to religious beliefs.
For more information, visit Arts & Culture: Community Action Grants.
