Arts Infrastructure: 2012-2019

To have a healthy and vigorous performing arts ecosystem, artists and arts organizations must have the resources they need to be effective and thrive. Too often, arts organizations find themselves undercapitalized relative to their aspirations, and coordination problems make it difficult to build and maintain shared resources.

Art organizations with inadequate capital or talent tend to take a defensive, risk-averse posture. This can lead to stunted artistic ambition and lack of organizational creativity. Through grants made as part of our Infrastructure grantmaking strategy, the Hewlett Foundation invested in critical infrastructure and organizing efforts to encourage solutions to the needs of the performing arts field. The Performing Arts Program made grants under this strategy from 2012 to 2019 as part of our overall strategic framework during that period.

Connection

Boost cooperation and sharing of information about best practices across the field by making grants that enable arts organizations and artists to solve collective problems and needs. A small portion of this funding includes conference sponsorships and workshops.

Field information

Close the gaps in tools, standards and services for collecting, organizing and accessing useful data about the state of the performing arts in the Bay Area. Artists, arts administrators, funders and policymakers can make better decisions when they have reliable and up-to-date information.

Human and financial capital

Help arts organizations attract, train and retain quality staff by addressing organizational capacity issues across the field. This includes grants that build capacity for distributed leadership, as well as for multiyear general operating support.