The Creative Work Fund invites artists and nonprofit organizations to create new art works through collaborations. It celebrates the role of artists as problem solvers and the making of art as a profound contribution to intellectual inquiry and to the strengthening of communities.  Artists are encouraged to collaborate with nonprofit organizations of all kinds, stretching boundaries and forging new partnerships.

The Fund seeks

• Projects in which the creation of an artwork is central
• Projects in which the artist functions primarily as an artist, not as a teacher, an art therapist, or in another capacity
• Projects in which an active, authentic working partnership between the artist or artists and the organization is central to the work’s development
• Projects that engage the organization’s constituents in the artist’s work
• Projects that draw upon artists’ creativity and problem-solving abilities
• Projects through which the making of art can strengthen a community, draw attention to an important issue, or engage audiences in new ways
• Projects that challenge artistic imagination and organizational thinking
• Projects that will be presented in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, or Stanislaus County
• Projects that designate at least two-thirds of the grant funds to the principal artists and their direct expenses for creating the work.

For information on current and upcoming grant opportunities please see HERE.

Frequently asked questions.

History:

Responding to several years of declining support for artists and new art works, The Columbia Foundation, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, Miriam and Peter Haas Fund, and Walter and Elise Haas Fund launched the Creative Work Fund in September 1994.  Since its inception, the Fund has awarded $9.4 million in grants for collaborations between artists and organizations to create new art works.

More recently, the Creative Work Fund has been a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund that also is supported by generous grants from ArtPlace (for the 2011-12 grant cycle), The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and The James Irvine Foundation.