Arts & Justice Fund
The Arts and Justice Fund supports two complementary focus areas, Arts and Justice, each with two funding streams.
The Arts focus area advances community-centered creative work through Community Arts Learning and Arts & Activism. The Justice focus area supports grassroots power-building through Housing Justice and Workers' Rights.
Together, these four streams reflect our belief that the arts and justice are not separate pursuits, they are deeply interconnected forces that, when united, have the power to fuel movements, transform lives, and build thriving, vibrant communities.
This Fund provides general operating grants to small and mid-sized organizations with budgets under $5M. Grants typically range from $10,000 to $25,000, beginning with one year of support for first-time grantees with the potential to expand to multi-year grants.
Arts
The Community Arts focus area funds organizations delivering tuition-free, community-based arts and music education directly in neighborhoods and community settings, bringing quality creative expression and cultural experiences to where people live. We prioritize programs where students learn in and through the arts to explore social justice themes and examine historical narratives that are meaningful and proximate to them and their communities. Competitive applicants engage young people aged 5-21 in relevant experiences that celebrate their own stories, legacies, and triumphs as the foundation for creative learning and civic understanding. Through this lens, program participants build artistic and self expression skills while also using their creative voices and experiences as tools for understanding, engaging with, and shaping the world around them.
Arts & Activism supports groups working at the intersection of creative expression, hands-on learning, and civic engagement, combining both to build public awareness, inspire local movements, and drive meaningful community change. This includes institutions that transform historic sites into living spaces for reflection, dialogue, and imagination, where the past informs a more just and equitable future.
Throughout history, the arts have served as one of humanity's most powerful tools for documenting injustice, preserving cultural memory, and imagining new possibilities for liberation. From the blues born out of the pain and resilience of the African American experience, to the corridos that gave voice to the sacrifices and resilience of immigrant and farmworker communities, to the protest songs that fueled the civil rights movement, the arts and justice are intertwined.
The Justice focus area supports grassroots power-building and community activism through two funding streams: Housing Justice and Workers Rights.
Housing Justice funds organizations working alongside communities to fight displacement, challenge exploitative conditions, and secure stable, affordable housing and homeownership opportunities. We prioritize efforts that combine grassroots power-building with policy and systems change strategies, and are particularly interested in organizations led by and accountable to those most impacted by housing instability and the enduring effects of historically discriminatory housing policies.
Workers' Rights funds organizations building worker power through organizing, collective bargaining, and policy advocacy. We prioritize efforts focused on securing living wages, combating wage theft, advancing workplace safety, and defending workers' rights to organize. We are particularly interested in organizations working alongside and led by low-wage workers, immigrant communities, and others historically excluded from the full protections of the labor movement.
Together, these two funding streams reflect our belief that stable housing and economic security are deeply interconnected pillars of community well-being and when communities have the power to demand fair wages and secure stable homes, they are better positioned to build the thriving, vibrant neighborhoods we all seek.
