San Francisco, CA
Nature Collages: Blurred Apocalypse and Frolicking
От Russell Stangeland January 2025
Take back joy, one pop at a time!
От AZUL December 2024
99 Red Balloons
От Ellen C McBarnette December 2024
Midwinter Magick Festival
От Luc Z and Sylvia Z November 2024
Guns to Gardens Safe Surrender
От sterling sam October 2024
The Mindful Maze: A Playful Path to Community Conn
От Jerreece Ann Jackson September 2024
Homegrown Ceramics
От Ada King September 2024
Bike locks for community bike shop users
От July Tenenbaum August 2024
Hella Flowers
От Victoria Hendrix Oppenheimer July 2024
The Little Letterpress Museum
От Don Buerer June 2024
Wilderness Education for Immigrant Students
От Anneke Castro Vonk May 2024Artivism at the Border
От Maureen McGarry April 2024
Wheelchair modding workshop
От Liz Henry March 2024
Bubbles: 101
От Melinda Ramirez February 2024
Young Riders Afterschool Program
От Aisha McElroy January 2024
Rice Hull Chair
От Liam McArdle-Hankin December 2023
Dance O Ween
От Elyse Lefebvre November 2023
The Pick Me Up Project
От Julie Alland October 2023
The Fourth
От Eirinie Carson September 2023
Rock and Roll Middle School
От Sarah C Nelson September 2023
Colusa Donation Based Garden Stand
От Nicole Day August 2023
"Dazzling Lights Over Water"
От Mel Flores July 2023Lifting Fog
От Lani Fehr June 2023
Food Picked with Love
От Audrey Lowell May 2023
Crip Ecstasy
От Octavia Rose Hingle April 2023
RAINBOW FALLS TO COSTUME-CON39!
От Melody Cooper March 2023StoryMap of California’s Water
От Sarita February 2023
The Chicken of Change
От Kym Hansen January 2023
Healing and Learning Garden Program
От Dheyanira Calahorrano December 2022
Everyone Needs Underwear...and Maybe Glasses Too!
От Eliana Swerdlow November 2022
BABELOGUE
От Axel Osterberg October 2022
thirdspace
От Bria Goeller September 2022
Rant Recital
От Chelsea Hollow August 2022
Loud Cinema
От Isabella Parlamis July 2022
TRAUMA, TRESSES, & TRUTH
От Lyzette Wanzer June 2022
Recycled glass art
От Matthew Harvey May 2022
Nothing is Poison, Everything is Poison
От Orly Politi April 2022
We Drank Tea & Stars
От Josh Senyak March 2022
Solar History Project
От Rachel Parish February 2022
Winter in America: "State of Emergency"
От Pearl Ubungen January 2022
Atrocity Hospital
От Kyra December 2021
Claim the Space
От Nia Povroznik November 2021
MiniMuseums
От Sydney Parcell October 2021
Kids gone camping! Together we rise!
От Jennifer Teguia October 2021
Once Upon a Time... Publishing
От nicole jenkins September 2021
Music Box Orchestra
От Rick Darnell August 2021
Clown Conservatory Documentary
От Abraham Dover July 2021We Are Water
От Heidi Quante June 2021
Interactive Mural for School
От Anna Grossi May 2021
Lou Harrison Archival Sample Packs
От Timothy Lillis April 2021
Voices of the Golden Ghosts
От Mark Oliver March 2021
Tenderloin Resident Art Exhibition and Quilt
От Mattie Loyce March 2021The People Who Make Elections Happen
От Anna Rotty February 2021
The Vanishing Hardwoods
От Sarah Duryea January 2021
Social Justice Financial Dominatrix
От Min Yoon January 2021
Queer Cat Productions 2021 Commission
От Carson Beker, on behalf of Queer Cat Productions January 2021
Reinvigorating several Community Gardens in BVHP
От Isaiah Powell December 2020
The True Tale of Princess Kaguya
От Ai Aida November 2020
Cirque Du Vote-leil
От Jenny Gottstein October 2020
Practice fundraising/Equipment
От Jason Taylor September 2020
Helping the disabled look and feel good
От Still look good foundation September 2020
SF African American Senior Narrative Quilt Project
От William Rhodes August 2020
Climate Resilient Schools
От Lil Milagro Henriquez July 2020
Un Respiro de Vida / A Breath Of Life
От Belinda Hernandez Arriaga June 2020
Within the First 50 paces
От Frederick Green May 2020
Bike Match: Free Bikes for COV19 Essential Workers
От Stephen Braitsch (written by Alicia Escott) May 2020
Something Labs
От Sam Haynor April 2020
Engineering for Covid-19 PAPR Project!
От Zach Reed April 2020
Acknowledgment Committee
От Acknowledgment Committee March 2020
ICONIC HARVEY MILK
От Khoi Nguyen March 2020
The Little Theater at the WSPS
От William Lewis & Lea Redmond February 2020
Val-U-Mart
От Ad January 2020
Fancy Phone Numbers - 16mm film
От Sequinette January 2020
"Waiting for San Francisco to Vanish"
От Paul Wiley December 2019
Solar-powered Internet for People's Park!
От Marc Juul November 2019
Dirty Kid Prom
От Melissa Matheney November 2019
Write vs. Wrong
От Hannah Rothstein October 2019
Re-Introduction of Pacific Tree Frogs to FFACC
От Danielle L Fernandez September 2019
Wildfire Progression Sculptures
От Adrien Segal September 2019
The Jellyfish Camera
От Jeremiah Barber July 2019
Russell City, CA: Documenting a Town Now Gone
От Megan Wilkinson July 2019
Buried Ships Project
От Justin Oliphant June 2019
Stoop Stories
От Ellie MacBride May 2019
Project Kolateral in San Francisco!
От Mixkaela VIllalon April 2019
We’re not going Anywhere
От Richie Rhombus March 2019
The Sideshow
От Michelle Ibarra February 2019Star Stories Live, a Podcast
От Kay Matschullat January 2019
Song of Songs Seder Celebrating Queer Sexuality
От Susala Kay January 2019
Sonoma Poetry Festival
От Meg Hamill December 2018
Tricyclolo
От Michael Arcega November 2018Robot 44
От Sean Cheong November 2018nègre
От Simone Bailey November 2018
Every Record Ever Recorded
От Hannah Blair October 2018
mySight (Homelessness Blinders street theater)
От Jennifer M Johnson October 2018
“Our Future Is Renewable”
От Alessandra Mondolfi October 2018
100 Jars of Jelly
От Robyn Waxman August 2018
Whose World Is This
От Salvin Chahal July 2018
Ice on Ice: an Ice Capade!
От Andrew Miguel Fuller July 2018
Trace Evidence
От Rachelle Reichert and Annie Malcolm June 2018
Aaron Swartz Day VR Museum, Art Gallery, Fun House
От Lisa Rein May 2018
The Art of Survival
От Madi Pignetti May 2018
NGALAC
От Mark Willson May 2018
Liquid Loom
От Cere Davis March 2018
Fresco Exchange
От Felipe Ortiz March 2018
This land was made for you and me
От Katie Williams February 2018
Food For Thought: A 5-Star Ohlone Banquet
От Malcolm Margolin December 2017
Community Street Painting
От Melissa Dickenson November 2017
34 Trinity Arts & News
От Jackie Hasa November 2017Force of Nature: Women's Work Visualized
От Sawyer Rose October 2017
Insect Trading Cards
От David Garnick September 2017
Gilded
От Xandra Ibarra September 2017
"you've got my eyes" - a dork-punk show-n-tell
От Mark Krawczuk August 2017
The Artship at Playland at 43rd Avenue
От Susan Ryan July 2017Q-Finder: A view into the possible
От Edith Borrebach June 2017
Another brief History of the Sunset
От Alicia Escott June 2017
Drag Queen Story Hour
От Juliana Delgado May 2017
Cyclecide Moving Fund
От Cyclecide Civetgrass April 2017
Nomadic Keyboard Trike
От Jennifer Murphy March 2017
First Female President
От Margaret McCarthy March 2017
The Banana Peel
От Cody Frost February 2017
Why Fish Don't Exist
От Lulu Miller February 2017
Resurrecting Lou Harrison's Lost Electronic Music
От Ryan Page January 2017
GollOrbs—Flying Wind-Powered Kinetic Sculptures
От Jeffrey Gollober November 2016
Replacing Missing Piers of SF’s Embarcadero
От Julie Crossman November 2016
Badass Boarders
От Kasley Killam October 2016
World's Largest Nachos!
От Laura D'Asaro October 2016
Mobility Scooter Cruise Control Circuit!
От Zach Reed September 2016
The Period Party
От Meghan Freebeck August 2016
Screen Queens Face Fail
От Harris David Harris July 2016
Deej - community engagement campaign
От Robert Rooy and DJ Savarese July 2016Stellar Displacement
От Albert Kong June 2016
Neighborhood Seeds
От Maren Salomon May 2016
LYFT for Seniors
От Jacqueline Zimmer Jones April 2016
Gotta Give Us Hope
От Jamie Beckenstein April 2016
NOTAFLOF Collective
От Liam Kelly March 2016
People's Open Network
От Marc Juul February 2016
1-855-LADYFUN
От Joe Veix February 2016
The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival
От James Kennedy January 2016
LuminoKinetic Artist / Engineer
От Carl Pisaturo December 2015
Smuggling Nature: Walking Poems Across Golden Gate
От Leath Tonino November 2015San Francisco Moby-Dick Marathon
От Daniel Herman October 2015
Project I AM
От Meghan Peter October 2015
Re:Sound
От Jen Boyd September 2015
Oakland FIGMENT
От Oakland FIGMENT Team September 2015
homobiles app hackathon space
От Lynn Breedlove August 2015
Litter Critters
От Debbie McCann and Althea Marie McCann Tabor July 2015
Teaching Electronics to Visually Impaired Students
От Allen Pan July 2015
Tangible Possibility: playful speed dating
От Lea Redmond June 2015
Grow'n & Chef'n Proper in Lower W. Oakland!
От Justin Vandenbroeck May 2015
Villainette: Bangs
От Dax Tran-Caffee May 2015
War Gastronomy - Recipes of Relocation
От Justin Charles Hoover (胡智騰) and Chris Treggiari April 2015Swing Low Sweet Bicycles
От Anonymous April 2015
Limbus Lab
От Andrew Maxwell-Parish April 2015
Land Action Squatter House Prototype
От Marcus Owens February 2015
Oakland students make the future!
От James Kealey & Nicholas Gilpinwright January 2015
The Bayview Bus Project: Art Not Ads!
От Jericha Senyak (The Museum of Joy) December 2014
Jam Buckets. Hosted by Mission Science Workshop.
От Kim Westberry November 2014O BEST BELOVED - 2014 Parks Tour Aboard FluxWagon
От Idiot String (Rebecca Longworth & Joan Howard) September 2014
Capturing Pinball Physics
От Melissa Harmon August 2014
Changing the world one love note at a time
От shannon Weber July 2014
Wildcat Hauling
От Timothy Furstnau (with FICTILIS) June 2014
Superheroes at Angel Island
От Neil Rivas June 2014
Musical Peddles
От Alvin Shiu May 2014
Automata Subterranea
От Nick Jones (aka Nick Knave) April 2014
NMU, The Wire People
От Isabel Halpern and Lucia Sanchez March 2014
Traveling Heart Hospital Bags
От Caroline Lovell February 2014A Portrait Project at the Zen Hospice
От Claudia Biçen February 2014
A Stop to Bullying
От Vinnie Kang December 2013
Awesöme Orchestra Collective
От David Möschler November 2013
The Library of Joy (A Museum of Joy Project)
От Jericha Senyak October 2013
Poetry with Elders
От Silvi Alcivar September 2013
The Mobile Wishing Well
От Kari Marboe and Erin Johnson August 2013
Sleep for Moms
От Suzanne L'Heureux July 2013
StreetStage and Kids POP!
От Jeremy Shaw July 2013EOYDC summer Science class
От Ashaki Scott July 2013
SF Postcard Project
От Hunter Franks May 2013
Your Store
От Kathryn Kenworth and Sarah Klein April 2013
Real Spider-Man Web
От Abel Melecio April 2013
Youth Community Center and Garden
От Youth Revolution March 2013Growing Together: Neighborhood Orchard Project
От Mallika Nair February 2013
Valentine's Day Love Letter Scavenger Hunt!
От Olga Nunes January 2013
Today's Future Sound Presents: Beats4Lunch
От Elliot Gann December 2012
"Walking on the Wall"
От Calen Barca-Hall November 2012
24/7 Bike Repair Vending Machine
От Marria Grace October 2012
The Golden Hour
От Julie Crossman August 2012
Sonic Kung Fu Battle
От Mike Lai August 2012
OuterBody Games
От Jason Wilson July 2012
Cardboard Castle Building Workshop
От Charlie Hufnagel July 2012
Bathtub Street Gondola!
От Ray Oppenheimer May 2012Lunar Topographies
От Craig Dorety May 2012
Come Out and Play San Francisco
От Jackie Hasa April 2012
The Balloon-Powered Dance Party!
От George Zisiadis, Will Skinner, Isaac Shivvers April 2012
Scents of San Francisco
От Zee Boudreaux February 2012
Little Opera
От Erin Bregman November 2011
Ourshelves Lending Library
От Kristina Kearns October 2011Inner Sunset Street Fair 2011
От Adam Greenfield September 2011
Inquiring Minds: Science Camp for Adults
От Julie Ron June 2011
Sidewalk Natural History
От Joel Pomerantz June 2011
Panoranima / Spitting Image
От Finley Coyl May 2011
Meanwhile, San Francisco Microcommunities
От wendy macnaughton April 2011
100 Dinosaur Painting Scavenger Hunt
От Adam Davis February 2011
Scarf-a-day
От Meredith Scheff January 2011
Hoods To The Woods
От Anthony J. Carranza October 2010
Papergirl San Francisco
От Heather Tompkins & Colleen Stockman September 2010
Sounding the Waters (Sea Change)
От Claire Schoen July 2010
Robotic Desk Lamps
От Jonathan Foote June 2010
A History of the Sky
От Ken Murphy May 2010
За Нас
We're the San Francisco chapter. We love sparking laughter, discussion, action, participation. ⫸⫸
Side-scroll through past grantees ⤴
Want a $1000 grant? Please apply! We fund based on our personal reactions. We most love knowing your creative ambition!
NOTE: Profit-centered business projects will not be considered.
Who are we? See bottom of page ⤵︎ where you can also learn how and when to write to Joel, the Dean of Awesome for our chapter.
Our microgrants of $1,000 are given
⟁ with no strings attached
🗝 based on your awkward, inspired, short description
⦕ one per month, from usually 30–80 applicants, half of whom ignore the hints on this page, at their peril
⨳ preferentially to individuals—especially beginners—over organizations
Please tell us you have
🔦 an inspired way to address urgent issues or absurd ones
🎈while leveraging playfulness
⦿ and community cohesion
⚡with plans we'd find unpredictable!
Best projects are
⊱ informal
☂ easy to accomplish with just $1,000
✂ deviations from the main work of your life or your nonprofit or your bigger project
⚗ experiments subject to change as you go along
⥹ interactive or public in some way
➰ daring, odd, loose, too silly for a normal grant source to fund
⇅ within our region (very loosely defined)
Hints
∰ Rave about possibility rather than nailing down every detail. Vague budgets are OK, or skip it.
⏢ Represent an established organization? We probably are not your best backing source.
♨ Attempt something strange or something important using unusual methods.
⎌ Be unexpectedly political or wtf fanciful. Tap the mischievous genius of the unsuspecting public. Jostle patterns. Stimulate quaint solutions. Clarify or muddy, as necessary.
We view whimsy as an essential hacking tool and life as a wake-up call.
Break out! The world is serious and polarized. Grassroots political creativity is in short supply. It's time for ideas that tickle us free. As long as anyone is in danger from injustice, violence, or ecological crash, as long as short-term wealth priorities push sanity aside, as long as we're trained to fear, fit in, stifle creative urges, we feel that more awesome is desperately needed around here. Sometimes the best ways to tackle serious shit is by goofy whimsy or distraction.
Thank you for creating a more awesome world! ⫸⫸
When to apply ❓ ❓
Proposals are welcome any time. The grant is decided at our monthly meeting where we look through ideas that came during the previous calendar month. For example, apply in May and it'll be considered and announced some time in June. We only have funds for one project per month.
♬ Planning an event? Apply more than seven weeks ahead to give us time to discuss before your event. If time gets away from you, apply anyway. We may decide to support it, depending on what else we review that month.
Who are we ❓ ❓
The Awesome Foundation is a DIY operation—small clusters of people all around the world. Each chapter pools small personal donations then gives a local, collective, monthly gift from us. We’re informal, not some stuffy organization. Ask us questions or advice. Now. Whenever. Use sf@awesomefoundation.org to reach Joel, SF's 5th Dean of Awesome.
When to send an email to Joel ❓ ❓
℞ You have a question or want advice about applying
Ω You want to be a microtrustee (pitch in $100 per month, help decide grant winners)
⨕ You want to be on our community discussion list (Friends of Awesome)
⟥ You want to chat with Joel about something completely irrelevant