San Francisco, CA
Social Justice Financial Dominatrix
Por Min Yoon January 2021
Queer Cat Productions 2021 Commission
Por Carson Beker, on behalf of Queer Cat Productions January 2021
Reinvigorating several Community Gardens in BVHP
Por Isaiah Powell December 2020
The True Tale of Princess Kaguya
Por Ai Aida November 2020
Cirque Du Vote-leil
Por Jenny Gottstein October 2020
Practice fundraising/Equipment
Por Jason Taylor September 2020
Helping the disabled look and feel good
Por Still look good foundation September 2020
SF African American Senior Narrative Quilt Project
Por William Rhodes August 2020
Climate Resilient Schools
Por Lil Milagro Henriquez July 2020
Un Respiro de Vida / A Breath Of Life
Por Belinda Hernandez Arriaga June 2020
Bike Match: Free Bikes for COV19 Essential Workers
Por Stephen Braitsch (written by Alicia Escott) May 2020
Within the First 50 paces
Por Frederick Green May 2020
Something Labs
Por Sam Haynor April 2020
Engineering for Covid-19 PAPR Project!
Por Zach Reed April 2020
ICONIC HARVEY MILK
Por Khoi Nguyen March 2020
Acknowledgment Committee
Por Acknowledgment Committee March 2020
The Little Theater at the WSPS
Por William Lewis & Lea Redmond February 2020
Val-U-Mart
Por Ad January 2020
Fancy Phone Numbers - 16mm film
Por Sequinette January 2020
"Waiting for San Francisco to Vanish"
Por Paul Wiley December 2019
Solar-powered Internet for People's Park!
Por Marc Juul November 2019
Dirty Kid Prom
Por Melissa Matheney November 2019
Write vs. Wrong
Por Hannah Rothstein October 2019
Re-Introduction of Pacific Tree Frogs to FFACC
Por Danielle L Fernandez September 2019
Wildfire Progression Sculptures
Por Adrien Segal September 2019
Russell City, CA: Documenting a Town Now Gone
Por Megan Wilkinson July 2019
The Jellyfish Camera
Por Jeremiah Barber July 2019
Buried Ships Project
Por Justin Oliphant June 2019
Stoop Stories
Por Ellie MacBride May 2019
Project Kolateral in San Francisco!
Por Mixkaela VIllalon April 2019
We’re not going Anywhere
Por Richie Rhombus March 2019
The Sideshow
Por Michelle Ibarra February 2019Song of Songs Seder Celebrating Queer Sexuality
Por Susala Kay January 2019
Star Stories Live, a Podcast
Por Kay Matschullat January 2019
Sonoma Poetry Festival
Por Meg Hamill December 2018
Robot 44
Por Sean Cheong November 2018Tricyclolo
Por Michael Arcega November 2018nègre
Por Simone Bailey November 2018
Every Record Ever Recorded
Por Hannah Blair October 2018
mySight (Homelessness Blinders street theater)
Por Jennifer M Johnson October 2018
“Our Future Is Renewable”
Por Alessandra Mondolfi October 2018
100 Jars of Jelly
Por Robyn Waxman August 2018
Whose World Is This
Por Salvin Chahal July 2018
Ice on Ice: an Ice Capade!
Por Andrew Miguel Fuller July 2018
Trace Evidence
Por Rachelle Reichert and Annie Malcolm June 2018
The Art of Survival
Por Madi Pignetti May 2018
Aaron Swartz Day VR Museum, Art Gallery, Fun House
Por Lisa Rein May 2018
NGALAC
Por Mark Willson May 2018
Liquid Loom
Por Cere Davis March 2018
Fresco Exchange
Por Felipe Ortiz March 2018
This land was made for you and me
Por Katie Williams February 2018
Food For Thought: A 5-Star Ohlone Banquet
Por Malcolm Margolin December 2017
Community Street Painting
Por Melissa Dickenson November 2017
34 Trinity Arts & News
Por Jackie Hasa November 2017Force of Nature: Women's Work Visualized
Por Sawyer Rose October 2017
Gilded
Por Xandra Ibarra September 2017
Insect Trading Cards
Por David Garnick September 2017
"you've got my eyes" - a dork-punk show-n-tell
Por Mark Krawczuk August 2017
The Artship at Playland at 43rd Avenue
Por Susan Ryan July 2017Another brief History of the Sunset
Por Alicia Escott June 2017
Q-Finder: A view into the possible
Por Edith Borrebach June 2017
Drag Queen Story Hour
Por Juliana Delgado May 2017
Cyclecide Moving Fund
Por Cyclecide Civetgrass April 2017
Nomadic Keyboard Trike
Por Jennifer Murphy March 2017
First Female President
Por Margaret McCarthy March 2017
The Banana Peel
Por Cody Frost February 2017
Why Fish Don't Exist
Por Lulu Miller February 2017
Resurrecting Lou Harrison's Lost Electronic Music
Por Ryan Page January 2017
Replacing Missing Piers of SF’s Embarcadero
Por Julie Crossman November 2016
GollOrbs—Flying Wind-Powered Kinetic Sculptures
Por Jeffrey Gollober November 2016
Badass Boarders
Por Kasley Killam October 2016
World's Largest Nachos!
Por Laura D'Asaro October 2016
Mobility Scooter Cruise Control Circuit!
Por Zach Reed September 2016
The Period Party
Por Meghan Freebeck August 2016
Screen Queens Face Fail
Por Harris David Harris July 2016
Deej - community engagement campaign
Por Robert Rooy and DJ Savarese July 2016Stellar Displacement
Por Albert Kong June 2016
Neighborhood Seeds
Por Maren Salomon May 2016
LYFT for Seniors
Por Jacqueline Zimmer Jones April 2016
Gotta Give Us Hope
Por Jamie Beckenstein April 2016
NOTAFLOF Collective
Por Liam Kelly March 2016
People's Open Network
Por Marc Juul February 2016
1-855-LADYFUN
Por Joe Veix February 2016
The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival
Por James Kennedy January 2016
LuminoKinetic Artist / Engineer
Por Carl Pisaturo December 2015
Smuggling Nature: Walking Poems Across Golden Gate
Por Leath Tonino November 2015Project I AM
Por Meghan Peter October 2015
San Francisco Moby-Dick Marathon
Por Daniel Herman October 2015
Re:Sound
Por Jen Boyd September 2015
Oakland FIGMENT
Por Oakland FIGMENT Team September 2015
homobiles app hackathon space
Por Lynn Breedlove August 2015
Litter Critters
Por Debbie McCann and Althea Marie McCann Tabor July 2015
Teaching Electronics to Visually Impaired Students
Por Allen Pan July 2015
Tangible Possibility: playful speed dating
Por Lea Redmond June 2015
Villainette: Bangs
Por Dax Tran-Caffee May 2015
Grow'n & Chef'n Proper in Lower W. Oakland!
Por Justin Vandenbroeck May 2015
War Gastronomy - Recipes of Relocation
Por Justin Charles Hoover (胡智騰) and Chris Treggiari April 2015Swing Low Sweet Bicycles
Por Anonymous April 2015
Limbus Lab
Por Andrew Maxwell-Parish April 2015
Land Action Squatter House Prototype
Por Marcus Owens February 2015
Oakland students make the future!
Por James Kealey & Nicholas Gilpinwright January 2015
The Bayview Bus Project: Art Not Ads!
Por Jericha Senyak (The Museum of Joy) December 2014
Jam Buckets. Hosted by Mission Science Workshop.
Por Kim Westberry November 2014O BEST BELOVED - 2014 Parks Tour Aboard FluxWagon
Por Idiot String (Rebecca Longworth & Joan Howard) September 2014
Capturing Pinball Physics
Por Melissa Harmon August 2014
Changing the world one love note at a time
Por shannon Weber July 2014
Wildcat Hauling
Por Timothy Furstnau (with FICTILIS) June 2014
Superheroes at Angel Island
Por Neil Rivas June 2014
Musical Peddles
Por Alvin Shiu May 2014
Automata Subterranea
Por Nick Jones (aka Nick Knave) April 2014
NMU, The Wire People
Por Isabel Halpern and Lucia Sanchez March 2014
Traveling Heart Hospital Bags
Por Caroline Lovell February 2014A Portrait Project at the Zen Hospice
Por Claudia Biçen February 2014
A Stop to Bullying
Por Vinnie Kang December 2013
Awesöme Orchestra Collective
Por David Möschler November 2013
The Library of Joy (A Museum of Joy Project)
Por Jericha Senyak October 2013
Poetry with Elders
Por Silvi Alcivar September 2013
The Mobile Wishing Well
Por Kari Marboe and Erin Johnson August 2013
StreetStage and Kids POP!
Por Jeremy Shaw July 2013Sleep for Moms
Por Suzanne L'Heureux July 2013
EOYDC summer Science class
Por Ashaki Scott July 2013
SF Postcard Project
Por Hunter Franks May 2013
Real Spider-Man Web
Por Abel Melecio April 2013
Your Store
Por Kathryn Kenworth and Sarah Klein April 2013
Youth Community Center and Garden
Por Youth Revolution March 2013Growing Together: Neighborhood Orchard Project
Por Mallika Nair February 2013
Valentine's Day Love Letter Scavenger Hunt!
Por Olga Nunes January 2013
Today's Future Sound Presents: Beats4Lunch
Por Elliot Gann December 2012
"Walking on the Wall"
Por Calen Barca-Hall November 2012
24/7 Bike Repair Vending Machine
Por Marria Grace October 2012
Sonic Kung Fu Battle
Por Mike Lai August 2012
The Golden Hour
Por Julie Crossman August 2012
OuterBody Games
Por Jason Wilson July 2012
Cardboard Castle Building Workshop
Por Charlie Hufnagel July 2012
Lunar Topographies
Por Craig Dorety May 2012
Bathtub Street Gondola!
Por Ray Oppenheimer May 2012
Come Out and Play San Francisco
Por Jackie Hasa April 2012
The Balloon-Powered Dance Party!
Por George Zisiadis, Will Skinner, Isaac Shivvers April 2012
Scents of San Francisco
Por Zee Boudreaux February 2012
Little Opera
Por Erin Bregman November 2011
Ourshelves Lending Library
Por Kristina Kearns October 2011Inner Sunset Street Fair 2011
Por Adam Greenfield September 2011
Inquiring Minds: Science Camp for Adults
Por Julie Ron June 2011
Sidewalk Natural History
Por Joel Pomerantz June 2011
Panoranima / Spitting Image
Por Finley Coyl May 2011
Meanwhile, San Francisco Microcommunities
Por wendy macnaughton April 2011
100 Dinosaur Painting Scavenger Hunt
Por Adam Davis February 2011
Scarf-a-day
Por Meredith Scheff January 2011
Hoods To The Woods
Por Anthony J. Carranza October 2010
Papergirl San Francisco
Por Heather Tompkins & Colleen Stockman September 2010
Sounding the Waters (Sea Change)
Por Claire Schoen July 2010
Robotic Desk Lamps
Por Jonathan Foote June 2010
A History of the Sky
Por Ken Murphy May 2010
Acerca de Nosotros
Hi World! We're the San Francisco chapter. We love sparking discussion, action, participation (particularly in our local region).
Those ⤴ are the projects we've funded. Click (or side-scroll) through the image strip! This is the best way to understand what we fund. Prod an image to read about that project.
COVID-19-RELATED PROPOSALS As our community faces this pandemic, our chapter will prioritize crisis-related proposals. If you have a novel idea to create more awesome for this novel time, we encourage you to submit it! Please brainstorm with your pals.
BLACK LIVES MATTER We encourage applications from BIPOC individuals, and projects that highlight BIPOC voices and audiences.
Who should apply for our no-strings-attached grants? Anyone passionate who has read through this text carefully. Yes, carefully.
We give one grant per month. Beginners, small projects and experimenters get preferential treatment. Will $1,000 make all the difference for your project to get started? If you represent an established organization, we probably are not your best backing source. But it depends.
Hint for organizations, nonprofits & ensembles: Describe a highly specific idea that's an experimental side trip and is not whatever you are normally focused on.*
Hint for individuals: Short, raw and personal. Rave about possibility rather than nailing down every detail. Credentials are unimportant. Your inspired self will be great at making your point.
Hint for artists: We love public interactive elements. Be you trying something new. No skill in proposal writing needed. Let loose. Be awkward. Be daring. Be odd.
Hint for events: Apply more than seven weeks ahead to give us time to discuss before your event. If time has got away from you, apply anyway. We may decide to support it, depending on what else we review that month.
Hint for proposals from (or about) outside our region: Please state clearly if you aren't in the Bay Area. Tell us how your project is connected to our region, if it in fact is.
Be playfully ambitious. We like projects that attempt something strange or something important using methods others haven't tried lately. You've got a scheme. Brainstorm, then narrow it down. Think about the wider public. When you explain it to people outside your usual bubble, do they respond with a delighted little dance?
Be informal. We'll fund based on our personal reactions to your creative ambition. That's what we most love knowing.
Be unexpectedly political or wtf whimsical. The world is serious and polarized. Grassroots political creativity is in short supply. We view whimsy as an essential hacking tool and clear messaging as a wake-up call. Tap the genius of the unsuspecting public. Jostle patterns. Stimulate awesome solutions.
As long as anyone is in danger from injustice, violence or ecological crash, as long as anyone faces literal slavery (even here in the Bay Area many farmworkers, sex workers & domestics do), as long as for-profit corporate priorities push sanity aside, as long as parents and children are trained to fear, fit in and stifle their creative urges, more awesome is desperately needed around here.
. . . ✂ . . . ⚗ . . . ♬. . . ♨ . . . ⚡ . . . ☂ . . . ∰ . . . ⦿ . . . ⦕ . . . ⥹ . . . ⎌ . . . ↉ . . . ⨳ . . . ⏢ . . . ⊱ . . . ⇅ . . . ⟁ . . . ➰ . . . ❓ . . . ⫸⫸
Suggestion: Read this page again, from the top, right before you apply.
Who are we? The Awesome Foundation is a DIY operation—clusters of people all around the world, each group pooling and giving a monthly gift. We're 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 apply: Proposals are welcome any time during any month. 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 in June.
If you like, you may follow us on social media (icons above) but more intimately, the SF chapter also has a friends-of email discussion list. Want to be on it?
Thank you for creating a more awesome world!
*More hints for organizations, ensembles and nonprofits: Match the scale to our cherished $1000 gift. Ignore your past competence and success and focus on this one tiny future unusual project that is unlikely to occur without our $1000. If your project can't fit that description easily, you might not be in our category of interest. But as you see from our past winners, we sometimes break our own patterns and have no rules, so it doesn't hurt to apply.