San Francisco, CA
Nature Collages: Blurred Apocalypse and Frolicking
By Russell Stangeland January 2025
Take back joy, one pop at a time!
By AZUL December 2024
99 Red Balloons
By Ellen C McBarnette December 2024
Midwinter Magick Festival
By Luc Z and Sylvia Z November 2024
Guns to Gardens Safe Surrender
By sterling sam October 2024
The Mindful Maze: A Playful Path to Community Conn
By Jerreece Ann Jackson September 2024
Homegrown Ceramics
By Ada King September 2024
Bike locks for community bike shop users
By July Tenenbaum August 2024
Hella Flowers
By Victoria Hendrix Oppenheimer July 2024
The Little Letterpress Museum
By Don Buerer June 2024
Wilderness Education for Immigrant Students
By Anneke Castro Vonk May 2024Artivism at the Border
By Maureen McGarry April 2024
Wheelchair modding workshop
By Liz Henry March 2024
Bubbles: 101
By Melinda Ramirez February 2024
Young Riders Afterschool Program
By Aisha McElroy January 2024
Rice Hull Chair
By Liam McArdle-Hankin December 2023
Dance O Ween
By Elyse Lefebvre November 2023
The Pick Me Up Project
By Julie Alland October 2023
The Fourth
By Eirinie Carson September 2023
Rock and Roll Middle School
By Sarah C Nelson September 2023
Colusa Donation Based Garden Stand
By Nicole Day August 2023
"Dazzling Lights Over Water"
By Mel Flores July 2023Lifting Fog
By Lani Fehr June 2023
Food Picked with Love
By Audrey Lowell May 2023
Crip Ecstasy
By Octavia Rose Hingle April 2023
RAINBOW FALLS TO COSTUME-CON39!
By Melody Cooper March 2023StoryMap of California’s Water
By Sarita February 2023
The Chicken of Change
By Kym Hansen January 2023
Healing and Learning Garden Program
By Dheyanira Calahorrano December 2022
Everyone Needs Underwear...and Maybe Glasses Too!
By Eliana Swerdlow November 2022
BABELOGUE
By Axel Osterberg October 2022
thirdspace
By Bria Goeller September 2022
Rant Recital
By Chelsea Hollow August 2022
Loud Cinema
By Isabella Parlamis July 2022
TRAUMA, TRESSES, & TRUTH
By Lyzette Wanzer June 2022
Recycled glass art
By Matthew Harvey May 2022
Nothing is Poison, Everything is Poison
By Orly Politi April 2022
We Drank Tea & Stars
By Josh Senyak March 2022
Solar History Project
By Rachel Parish February 2022
Winter in America: "State of Emergency"
By Pearl Ubungen January 2022
Atrocity Hospital
By Kyra December 2021
Claim the Space
By Nia Povroznik November 2021
MiniMuseums
By Sydney Parcell October 2021
Kids gone camping! Together we rise!
By Jennifer Teguia October 2021
Once Upon a Time... Publishing
By nicole jenkins September 2021
Music Box Orchestra
By Rick Darnell August 2021
Clown Conservatory Documentary
By Abraham Dover July 2021We Are Water
By Heidi Quante June 2021
Interactive Mural for School
By Anna Grossi May 2021
Lou Harrison Archival Sample Packs
By Timothy Lillis April 2021
Voices of the Golden Ghosts
By Mark Oliver March 2021
Tenderloin Resident Art Exhibition and Quilt
By Mattie Loyce March 2021The People Who Make Elections Happen
By Anna Rotty February 2021
The Vanishing Hardwoods
By Sarah Duryea January 2021
Social Justice Financial Dominatrix
By Min Yoon January 2021
Queer Cat Productions 2021 Commission
By Carson Beker, on behalf of Queer Cat Productions January 2021
Reinvigorating several Community Gardens in BVHP
By Isaiah Powell December 2020
The True Tale of Princess Kaguya
By Ai Aida November 2020
Cirque Du Vote-leil
By Jenny Gottstein October 2020
Practice fundraising/Equipment
By Jason Taylor September 2020
Helping the disabled look and feel good
By Still look good foundation September 2020
SF African American Senior Narrative Quilt Project
By William Rhodes August 2020
Climate Resilient Schools
By Lil Milagro Henriquez July 2020
Un Respiro de Vida / A Breath Of Life
By Belinda Hernandez Arriaga June 2020
Within the First 50 paces
By Frederick Green May 2020
Bike Match: Free Bikes for COV19 Essential Workers
By Stephen Braitsch (written by Alicia Escott) May 2020
Something Labs
By Sam Haynor April 2020
Engineering for Covid-19 PAPR Project!
By Zach Reed April 2020
Acknowledgment Committee
By Acknowledgment Committee March 2020
ICONIC HARVEY MILK
By Khoi Nguyen March 2020
The Little Theater at the WSPS
By William Lewis & Lea Redmond February 2020
Val-U-Mart
By Ad January 2020
Fancy Phone Numbers - 16mm film
By Sequinette January 2020
"Waiting for San Francisco to Vanish"
By Paul Wiley December 2019
Solar-powered Internet for People's Park!
By Marc Juul November 2019
Dirty Kid Prom
By Melissa Matheney November 2019
Write vs. Wrong
By Hannah Rothstein October 2019
Re-Introduction of Pacific Tree Frogs to FFACC
By Danielle L Fernandez September 2019
Wildfire Progression Sculptures
By Adrien Segal September 2019
The Jellyfish Camera
By Jeremiah Barber July 2019
Russell City, CA: Documenting a Town Now Gone
By Megan Wilkinson July 2019
Buried Ships Project
By Justin Oliphant June 2019
Stoop Stories
By Ellie MacBride May 2019
Project Kolateral in San Francisco!
By Mixkaela VIllalon April 2019
We’re not going Anywhere
By Richie Rhombus March 2019
The Sideshow
By Michelle Ibarra February 2019Star Stories Live, a Podcast
By Kay Matschullat January 2019
Song of Songs Seder Celebrating Queer Sexuality
By Susala Kay January 2019
Sonoma Poetry Festival
By Meg Hamill December 2018
Tricyclolo
By Michael Arcega November 2018Robot 44
By Sean Cheong November 2018nègre
By Simone Bailey November 2018
Every Record Ever Recorded
By Hannah Blair October 2018
mySight (Homelessness Blinders street theater)
By Jennifer M Johnson October 2018
“Our Future Is Renewable”
By Alessandra Mondolfi October 2018
100 Jars of Jelly
By Robyn Waxman August 2018
Whose World Is This
By Salvin Chahal July 2018
Ice on Ice: an Ice Capade!
By Andrew Miguel Fuller July 2018
Trace Evidence
By Rachelle Reichert and Annie Malcolm June 2018
Aaron Swartz Day VR Museum, Art Gallery, Fun House
By Lisa Rein May 2018
The Art of Survival
By Madi Pignetti May 2018
NGALAC
By Mark Willson May 2018
Liquid Loom
By Cere Davis March 2018
Fresco Exchange
By Felipe Ortiz March 2018
This land was made for you and me
By Katie Williams February 2018
Food For Thought: A 5-Star Ohlone Banquet
By Malcolm Margolin December 2017
Community Street Painting
By Melissa Dickenson November 2017
34 Trinity Arts & News
By Jackie Hasa November 2017Force of Nature: Women's Work Visualized
By Sawyer Rose October 2017
Insect Trading Cards
By David Garnick September 2017
Gilded
By Xandra Ibarra September 2017
"you've got my eyes" - a dork-punk show-n-tell
By Mark Krawczuk August 2017
The Artship at Playland at 43rd Avenue
By Susan Ryan July 2017Q-Finder: A view into the possible
By Edith Borrebach June 2017
Another brief History of the Sunset
By Alicia Escott June 2017
Drag Queen Story Hour
By Juliana Delgado May 2017
Cyclecide Moving Fund
By Cyclecide Civetgrass April 2017
Nomadic Keyboard Trike
By Jennifer Murphy March 2017
First Female President
By Margaret McCarthy March 2017
The Banana Peel
By Cody Frost February 2017
Why Fish Don't Exist
By Lulu Miller February 2017
Resurrecting Lou Harrison's Lost Electronic Music
By Ryan Page January 2017
GollOrbs—Flying Wind-Powered Kinetic Sculptures
By Jeffrey Gollober November 2016
Replacing Missing Piers of SF’s Embarcadero
By Julie Crossman November 2016
Badass Boarders
By Kasley Killam October 2016
World's Largest Nachos!
By Laura D'Asaro October 2016
Mobility Scooter Cruise Control Circuit!
By Zach Reed September 2016
The Period Party
By Meghan Freebeck August 2016
Screen Queens Face Fail
By Harris David Harris July 2016
Deej - community engagement campaign
By Robert Rooy and DJ Savarese July 2016Stellar Displacement
By Albert Kong June 2016
Neighborhood Seeds
By Maren Salomon May 2016
LYFT for Seniors
By Jacqueline Zimmer Jones April 2016
Gotta Give Us Hope
By Jamie Beckenstein April 2016
NOTAFLOF Collective
By Liam Kelly March 2016
People's Open Network
By Marc Juul February 2016
1-855-LADYFUN
By Joe Veix February 2016
The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival
By James Kennedy January 2016
LuminoKinetic Artist / Engineer
By Carl Pisaturo December 2015
Smuggling Nature: Walking Poems Across Golden Gate
By Leath Tonino November 2015San Francisco Moby-Dick Marathon
By Daniel Herman October 2015
Project I AM
By Meghan Peter October 2015
Re:Sound
By Jen Boyd September 2015
Oakland FIGMENT
By Oakland FIGMENT Team September 2015
homobiles app hackathon space
By Lynn Breedlove August 2015
Litter Critters
By Debbie McCann and Althea Marie McCann Tabor July 2015
Teaching Electronics to Visually Impaired Students
By Allen Pan July 2015
Tangible Possibility: playful speed dating
By Lea Redmond June 2015
Grow'n & Chef'n Proper in Lower W. Oakland!
By Justin Vandenbroeck May 2015
Villainette: Bangs
By Dax Tran-Caffee May 2015
War Gastronomy - Recipes of Relocation
By Justin Charles Hoover (胡智騰) and Chris Treggiari April 2015Swing Low Sweet Bicycles
By Anonymous April 2015
Limbus Lab
By Andrew Maxwell-Parish April 2015
Land Action Squatter House Prototype
By Marcus Owens February 2015
Oakland students make the future!
By James Kealey & Nicholas Gilpinwright January 2015
The Bayview Bus Project: Art Not Ads!
By Jericha Senyak (The Museum of Joy) December 2014
Jam Buckets. Hosted by Mission Science Workshop.
By Kim Westberry November 2014O BEST BELOVED - 2014 Parks Tour Aboard FluxWagon
By Idiot String (Rebecca Longworth & Joan Howard) September 2014
Capturing Pinball Physics
By Melissa Harmon August 2014
Changing the world one love note at a time
By shannon Weber July 2014
Wildcat Hauling
By Timothy Furstnau (with FICTILIS) June 2014
Superheroes at Angel Island
By Neil Rivas June 2014
Musical Peddles
By Alvin Shiu May 2014
Automata Subterranea
By Nick Jones (aka Nick Knave) April 2014
NMU, The Wire People
By Isabel Halpern and Lucia Sanchez March 2014
Traveling Heart Hospital Bags
By Caroline Lovell February 2014A Portrait Project at the Zen Hospice
By Claudia Biçen February 2014
A Stop to Bullying
By Vinnie Kang December 2013
Awesöme Orchestra Collective
By David Möschler November 2013
The Library of Joy (A Museum of Joy Project)
By Jericha Senyak October 2013
Poetry with Elders
By Silvi Alcivar September 2013
The Mobile Wishing Well
By Kari Marboe and Erin Johnson August 2013
Sleep for Moms
By Suzanne L'Heureux July 2013
StreetStage and Kids POP!
By Jeremy Shaw July 2013EOYDC summer Science class
By Ashaki Scott July 2013
SF Postcard Project
By Hunter Franks May 2013
Your Store
By Kathryn Kenworth and Sarah Klein April 2013
Real Spider-Man Web
By Abel Melecio April 2013
Youth Community Center and Garden
By Youth Revolution March 2013Growing Together: Neighborhood Orchard Project
By Mallika Nair February 2013
Valentine's Day Love Letter Scavenger Hunt!
By Olga Nunes January 2013
Today's Future Sound Presents: Beats4Lunch
By Elliot Gann December 2012
"Walking on the Wall"
By Calen Barca-Hall November 2012
24/7 Bike Repair Vending Machine
By Marria Grace October 2012
The Golden Hour
By Julie Crossman August 2012
Sonic Kung Fu Battle
By Mike Lai August 2012
OuterBody Games
By Jason Wilson July 2012
Cardboard Castle Building Workshop
By Charlie Hufnagel July 2012
Bathtub Street Gondola!
By Ray Oppenheimer May 2012Lunar Topographies
By Craig Dorety May 2012
Come Out and Play San Francisco
By Jackie Hasa April 2012
The Balloon-Powered Dance Party!
By George Zisiadis, Will Skinner, Isaac Shivvers April 2012
Scents of San Francisco
By Zee Boudreaux February 2012
Little Opera
By Erin Bregman November 2011
Ourshelves Lending Library
By Kristina Kearns October 2011Inner Sunset Street Fair 2011
By Adam Greenfield September 2011
Inquiring Minds: Science Camp for Adults
By Julie Ron June 2011
Sidewalk Natural History
By Joel Pomerantz June 2011
Panoranima / Spitting Image
By Finley Coyl May 2011
Meanwhile, San Francisco Microcommunities
By wendy macnaughton April 2011
100 Dinosaur Painting Scavenger Hunt
By Adam Davis February 2011
Scarf-a-day
By Meredith Scheff January 2011
Hoods To The Woods
By Anthony J. Carranza October 2010
Papergirl San Francisco
By Heather Tompkins & Colleen Stockman September 2010
Sounding the Waters (Sea Change)
By Claire Schoen July 2010
Robotic Desk Lamps
By Jonathan Foote June 2010
A History of the Sky
By Ken Murphy May 2010
About Us
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