Circus Center
For General Operating Support
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Amount$150,000
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Program
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Date Awarded11/15/2010
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Term36 Months
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Type of SupportGeneral Support/Organization
Strategies
Overview
Circus Center provides a professional training program for aspiring circus artists as well as a recreational program that reaches more than 1,000 students each year. Internationally considered the preeminent U.S. training ground for circus artists, its master teachers are some of the best in their fields, having performed with Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Brothers, and the Moscow Circus to name only a few. In addition to its education programs, Circus Center annually produces ten public performances (most of which are free) for nearly 20,000 audience members in the Bay Area and beyond. In 2008, the Foundation gave Circus Center an Organizational Effectiveness grant to tackle its chronic financial and leadership issues, and the results have been quite positive. With a new and motivated executive director and a robust strategic plan, the organization is well positioned to continue improving its financial stability and overall health. During the coming grant period, Circus Center plans to strengthen its professional training program by increasing outreach to potential students and to diversify its revenue by focusing on individual contributions.
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
www.circuscenter.org
Address
755 Frederick Street, San Francisco, CA, 94117-2755, United States
Grants to this Grantee
for general operating support
Circus Center provides training in circus arts from some of the most renowned circus performers in the world to people of all ages and all levels of experience. The organization annually engages more than 7,000 people through classes taught in its San Francisco complex, and reaches an additional 10,000 through performance programs and showcases. After almost closing its doors in 2010, Circus Center has new administrative and board leadership and a vibrant recreational program. With renewed support the organization plans to increase contributed resources, develop an outreach program, and re-institute its professional performance troupe.
for general operating support
Circus Center preserves circus arts through training, performances, and outreach programs. Circus Center offers classes to professional, pre-professional, and recreational youth and adult students. The organization’s classes include clowning, contortion, acrobatics, juggling, and trapeze, as well as strength and flexibility. The organization also serves more than 60 mostly low-income children in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood with free circus arts education. Circus Center’s programs reach more than 8,000 people each year. This grant to Circus Center supports the Performing Arts Program’s Arts Education strategy through the Program Delivery component.
