Thriving Communities - Battery Powered

When art is unleashed, communities thrive. Community-based projects create important opportunities for diversity and participation in the arts. As cultural participation goes up, economies revitalize, and public health and civic engagement increase.

As the Bay Area enters into a new era of growth and innovation, modern philanthropy has enhanced existing funding sources to support the transformative power of art and creativity. From the vibrant patchwork of murals in the Mission’s Clarion Alley to East Bay art collectives and makerspaces, new creative collaborations are afoot.

Amir Aziz 2013

“What does home mean to you? For people in West Oakland, the answers to this question are extraordinarily diverse, richly complex, and surprisingly simple.” Oakland, I want you to know… is the latest installation at the Oakland Museum to tell stories of change through the eyes of the community. The project includes contributions from over 700 artists, students, residents and community groups.

Let’s take a second and pause. We’ve likely experienced art and know it’s a source of civic pride. It sounds right. But just how does this transformative impact happen? In simple and direct ways, as it turns out.

Students with artistic education have higher GPAs, lower dropout rates and score higher on college entrance exams. The arts and culture sector pumps more than $700 billion into the national GDP, outperforming things like agriculture and transportation. It fuels tourism and tourism dollars into the local economy. Even business leaders value creativity as the single most important leadership trait CEOs look for when hiring new staff.

“The arts are the best insurance policy a city can take on itself.”

Woody Dumas, former Mayor of Baton Rouge

Art has the power to invigorate communities in even the most unexpected places. When creative writing non-profit 826 Valencia opened a new branch in the Tenderloin, local author and 826 founder Dave Eggers made headlines for renting out an old liquor store to house his educational tutoring center. Today, the space is unrecognizable, outfitted with plenty of books, writing space and even a floor-to-ceiling treehouse.

826 Valencia

The creativity is spreading. The Tenderloin Museum is just two blocks away and captures the history of a district known for its vice and poverty. Around the corner at The Piano Fight, the all-volunteer Bay Area Film Mixer brings hundreds together to network every quarter. These and other additions to the neighborhood form vital meeting places for residents of the Tenderloin, which has the densest concentration of families and schools in all of San Francisco.

When we make investments in film, art, music, literature and education, we all benefit.