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