East Bay Community Foundation Weaving Artists into Community Fabric

In the arts, East Bay’s grantmaking is entirely donor supported. Three separate funds—the Open Circle Foundation, a supporting organization; Macpherson Fund for Small Arts Organizations, an endowment; and the East Bay Fund for Artists, a funder initiative and field of interest fund — together distribute close to $250,000 annually through separate grant making rounds.

All three are centered on cultural equity and access for artists, no matter their linguistic, racial or ethnic background and on artist-driven work that is based in, reflects, and gives back to the East Bay community.

How did this shared strategic focus on East Bay artists emerge from three very different donors or funder groups? “It’s about weaving,” Diane Sanchez says, “braiding everything together with common themes and unifying principles.”