Promote the creation and reinterpretation of art and infuse the arts field with new ideas and methods of creative expression.

Through this priority, we aim to support working artists at all levels through project grants, individual artist support, regranting initiatives, commissioning and new work development. This priority explores and supports ways to nurture and affirm the creative process for both artists and cultural institutions.

Types of activities supported

We consider focused and strategic projects (either single- or multiyear) as well as core support for activities within this priority area. We support activities that:

• Encourage the creation of new work and reinterpretation of existing work
• Provide California artists with the opportunity to create new work
• Offer opportunities for emerging artists to further their professional development
• Strengthen systems that support the work of individual artists
• Encourage greater artistic risk-taking and stimulate the development of art forms and ideas within the field as a whole

Competitive projects will:

• Dedicate a significant percentage of grant dollars to artists' fees
• Demonstrate a proven track record of artistic success
• Be undertaken by organizations with the capacity (programmatic, financial and managerial) to successfully implement the project

While we accept unsolicited inquiries from grantseekers, we are able to fund very few of them. Please click here if you would like to learn more about submitting a letter of inquiry. Full proposals are accepted by invitation only.

Profile of an illustrative grant:

The following grantee profile is illustrative of the type of work the Arts program seeks to fund through its Artistic Creativity priority:

• Margaret Jenkins Dance Company