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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Term36.0 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 was founded by the iconic Pickle Family Circus in 1984, and has established itself as a pillar in circus arts training on the West Coast, with instruction from an international roster of teachers in acrobatics, trapeze, aerial arts, clowning, and juggling for professional and pre-professional performers. Circus Center presents free performances throughout the year at its uniquely suited facility—constructed in 1929 as the boy’s gym of Polytechnic High School, across the street from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park—featuring students, instructors, and community members. Circus Center’s youth camps foster health and discipline through circus arts traditions, and the organization intends to launch a cabaret series to showcase and foster the careers of adult performers. A grant to Circus Center will support its efforts to build operational capacity, increase enrollment, and extend scholarship opportunities for youth.
