Silicon Valley Creates

Silicon Valley Creates, better known as SVCreates, is a regional arts service organization whose mission is to uplift and empower the creative culture of Silicon Valley. Focused on the creative sector of the South Bay, including San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, it builds capacity, raises value and visibility, and increases access to arts and creativity. Its grantmaking supports scores of creative enterprises through a variety of awards for arts organizations and projects. SVCreates also provides customized support and coaching for a portfolio of approximately 100 small and mid-sized multicultural nonprofit organizations, artists, and creative professionals, year-round professional development workshops, advocacy for the region’s arts and culture sector, and increased visibility for the arts through publishing and events. Support of SVCreates advances the Performing Arts Program’s Communities strategy.

Arts Council Silicon Valley is the largest nonprofit arts council in California, providing a comprehensive suite of funding, technical assistance, and marketing services to more than 600 local arts and cultural organizations, and individual artists throughout Santa Clara County. The organization has been through a three-year period of leadership and programmatic transition, and has ambitious plans to develop a larger arts funding pool, test and launch community philanthropy tools to increase support for the arts, and a build an online arts education directory. The arts council is in the process of merging with 1stACT Silicon Valley, which has provided leadership and programs to inspire cultural investment and participation. Together, the two organizations will form Silicon Valley Creates, one cohesive unit to serve the cultural sector and the people of the region. This grant will provide support for the merger hard costs.

Arts Council Silicon Valley (ACSV) is the largest nonprofit arts council in California, providing a comprehensive suite of funding, technical assistance, and marketing services to more than 600 local arts and cultural organizations, and individual artists throughout Santa Clara County. The primary purpose of the Arts Council is to fund small, midsize and multicultural arts organizations and individual artists through programs which make general operations, project, and organizational development grants, as well as provide technical assistance and the Artsopolis arts marketing and calendar web site. An Organizational Effectiveness grant was made to ACSV in 2009 in order to renew and refresh their three-year strategic plan at a time of economic downturn, in order to develop a responsive, sustainable business model that provides meaningful support to the arts groups and artists within their remit. During that planning process, an environmental scan of key internal and external stakeholders was completed and board and staff retreats helped to identify specific objectives. The organization has now entered into Phase 2 of this strategic planning process in order to finalize the plan, providing a road map for the next 3-5 years of operation and an evaluation of current staffing, space and operational procedures, and this recommended grant will support this effort.