Gerbode Foundation

For more than twenty years, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation has made grants to Bay Area arts organizations to commission new works by gifted individual playwrights, composers, choreographers, and multimedia artists. Past grants have supported Alonzo King, Margaret Jenkins, John Adams, and Tony Kushner (for his Pulitzer Prize winning Angels in America). This highly competitive and nationally respected grant program has been co-funded over the past ten years by the Hewlett Foundation, enabling Gerbode to increase its award amounts. The Gerbode/Hewlett Commissions are unusual among such awards due to the sizes of the grants and their changes in theme as artistic trends shift. With this renewal, these grants would continue to support artists at critical junctures in their careers, enable nonprofit local arts organizations to develop and premiere substantial new works, and enrich Bay Area audiences by giving them first access to ambitious, original creations. As in past years, eighteen sets of artists and organizations will be supported through direct grants, and the Gerbode and Hewlett foundations will share the program’s administrative expenses.