Arts Education Resources

The San Francisco Arts Commission is committed to providing access to high-quality arts experiences in and out-of-school time for San Francisco youth, families, residents, and stakeholders across San Francisco neighborhood communities through Arts Education.

For additional information about Arts Education Programming, please contact Program Officer Jonell T. Molina at jonell.molina@sfgov.org or call 415-212-2218.

Please sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about our grants program.

SFUSD Arts 2024 CW Youth Arts Festival Poster

SAVE THE DATE: SFUSD Arts 2024 Citywide Youth Arts Festival

Arts Education Community Event Dates

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Arts Department Newsletter Click Here for April 2024 SFUSD Arts Department Newsletter
Arts Ed Alliance of the Bay Area (AEABA) and San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD): San Francisco Arts Community Collaborative Meetings Monthly Every 3rd Thursday from 3:45-5pm | Register Here
Thursday April 18, 2024 
San Francisco Arts & Culture Guide Click here for SF Arts & Culture Guide Online
Domingos Familiares at MCCLA Every Sunday at 11am - 5 pm 
Hair 101 Workshop Hosted by Kids in the City Saturdays at 1pm - 3pm | Register: kidsinthecity2018@gmail.com
Pop-Up Resource Village Second Saturdays in the Bayview | Between 1201 Mendell Street & Ruth Williams Opera House 2nd Saturdays from 1pm-4:30-pm
Bay Area Now 9 Presented by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Now - May 5, 2024 | General Admission: $9* | *Free admission for Youth, Students, Educators, Seniors, Military Personnel, and more. | Tix Here
Conversation 8 Featuring work by Harry Dodge and Alicia McCarthy at SF Arts Commission Main Gallery  SF Arts Commission | 401 Van Ness Ave. Suite 126, SF, CA
Gallery Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 12 pm  to 5pm | Masks Recommended
Exhibition: On view Now to April 27, 2024
Youth Art Exchange Spring Session
Now - May 16, 2024

Youth Art Exchange | Sign Up for Classes Here
Animation, Architecture, Hip Hop Dance, Photography, Fashion Design, Music Production, Mural Arts, and Printmaking

SFUSD Arts Presents the 2024 Citywide Youth Arts Festival
Celebrate the art works of over 5,000 SFUSD students through visual arts exhibitions, digital media screenings, and performing arts showcases throughout the city of San Francisco
Sat 4/27 at 10am-4pm | For Information Here
8 Main Venues Throughout SF | Weeks-long visual art exhibitions
Digital Media Screenings | LIVE performing arts showcase
Activities from community partners

Brava for Women in the Arts April 2024 Events
Sat 4/20 and Sun 4/21: Huellas: Afro-Peruvian Dance Theater
Fri 4/19 - Sun 4/21: Shrek The Musical Jr. 
Thu 4/18: TheyFriend: Non-Binary Cabaret
Now -  Sun 4/14: Larry The Musical 

Sat 4/20 and Sun 4/21 | 7pm Shows | Tickets Here
Fri 4/19 - Sun 4/21 | Showtimes and Tickets Here
Thu 4/18  at 7:30pm | Get Tickets Here
Now - Sun 4/14 | Showtimes and Tickets
Here
Kapwa Gardens & Malaya Botanicals Present: Baked- Vibes & Vitality Edition at Kapwa Gardens | 967 Mission Street Sat 4/20 at 12pm-6pm | For Information Here
Youth Speaks in association with the San Francisco Public Library | 2024 Teen Poetry Slam Finals at Atrium Theater SF, 4th Floor, 401 Van Ness Ave. Fri 4/19 at 6pm | FREE | Get TIckets Here
Performance: Spoken Artists with Nairobi Barnes, Oakland Youth Poet Laureate at SF Public Library, Glen Park Branch, 2825 Diamon St. Tue 4/16 at 4:30-5:30pm | SFPL Glen Park Branch Meeting Room
 Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA), 2868 Mission Street
Sat 4/13: Mesoamerican Natural Dye Techniques
Fri 4/12: Gabino Palomares, Gira Mundial: Concierto "Cantos Para Continuar" w/ Special Guest Alfredo Gómez
 
April 2024 MCCLA Events - Click on Link Here
Sat 4/13 | Time: 1-4pm | Get Tickets Here
Sat 4/12 | Time: 6-9pm | Get Ticket Here

Manilatown Arts presents Club Mandalay at International Hotel Manilatown Center | 868 Kearny Street

Sat 4/6, 2024 at 2-4pm | Get FREE Tickets HERE

About Arts Education

As part of the Community Investments Program, Arts Education at the SFAC engages with the SF Arts Community through

  1. Grantmaking
  2. Arts Education Activities
  3. Arts Education Conveners and Funder Collaboratives, and
  4. Arts Education Resources.

Grantmaking 

The Community Investments program supports San Francisco-based artists, arts organizations, and communities with an equity lens through grants, technical assistance, arts education initiatives, and community-based Cultural Centers. Arts Education. 

  • Artivist-in-Residence (AIR) Grant

    The Artivist-in-Residence (AIR) is a grant program for a nonprofit arts organization to hire teaching artists as part-time hourly employees to design and implement socially responsive art and creative exploration learning experiences (e.g. in-person, hybrid, remote) as a means to heal and build community. In turn, teaching artists are provided equitable compensation and opportunities to further their artistic practices and professional development as educators in a three-year cohort.

  • Grants for Youth Programming

Arts Education Activities | Special Project Grants

The Arts Education program partners with teaching artists, and arts organizations at schools and after school sites for youth programming .The Arts Education program partners with community stakeholders to provide opportunities for youth programming, networking, highlighting the impact of the work, and discuss trends in the field.

Arts Education Conveners and Funder Collaboratives

Arts Education Conveners and Funder Collaboratives are strategic networking spaces to better understand the impact of the work and better understand the issues in the trends of the Arts Ecosystem (locally, state, and federal); cohort learning, professional development, and Arts Education Policy Advocacy in our communities.

Arts Education Resources

Providing and sharing access to the community resources, services, and programming to youth, artists, families, and community stakeholders.

Arts Education Categories

AcroSports | 639 Frederick Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 | Contact- E: info@acrosports.org or O: 415-665-2276
 Tuition Assistance | Installment Plans

Kids Classes: 10 months - 16 years Old
AcroSports is a unique space designed to inspire play and empowerment through non-competitive movement.

  • PreK/Toddler Classes: 10 months - 5 Years Old
    • Students are encouraged to be themselves in a colorful, creative, and stimulating space. Our coaches help students use a variety of apparatus as they learn to move and discover their own bodies.
       
  • Youth/Teen Classes: 6 to 18 years Old
    • From artistic gymnastics to aerial arts, breakdancing and parkour, AcroSports offers fun and challenging youth classes for active children aged 6 and up.
       
  • Special Needs 
    • Come to our Special Needs Open Gym and encourage your child in self-guided exploration of our facility. We have space to run, jump, crawl, swing, balance, bounce and climb.

Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts & Technology (BAYCAT) | 2415 Third Street, Suite 230, San Francisco, CA 94107
Contact- E: info@baycat.org or O: 415-701-8228

BAYCAT believes that every person’s story matters. We envision a world where media and technology facilitate the telling of stories from the broadest possible range of experiences, driving people to create inclusive, equitable communities.

BAYCAT addresses racial, gender and economic inequity by creating powerful, authentic media while diversifying the creative industry. Through the education and employment of low-income youth, young people of color, and young women in the Bay Area, and producing media for socially-minded clients, we are changing the stories that get shared with the world.

  • Youth  Programs | Digitial Media Classes for Youth: Filmmaking, Graphic Arts

Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco | Main Office: 380 Fulton Street, SF, CA 94102 | Various Clubhouse Locations Across San Francisco | Serving Youth Ages 6 -18 years Old

At Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco, we inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.

We provide high-quality programs and support services that allow Club members to leave us at age 18 “ready for life.” We focus on four essential program areas that we call our Formula for Impact: Academic Success, Healthy Lifestyles, Good Character and Community Engagement, Job Readiness With Earning Potential. Our Formula for Impact is based on running targeted programs in these areas and ensuring regular attendance and an optimal experience in our Clubs.

  • Find A Club Near You For More Info- Bayview | Excelsior | Fillmore | Mission | Tenderloin | Visitacion Valley 

Citizen Film | 1111 Buhanan Street, Suite 11, San Francisco, CA 94115
Contact- Contact Form Here or O: 415-206-1880

Citizen Film is a not-for-profit production company dedicated to crafting documentaries with care and dignity. We collaborate with cultural institutions, communities and civic organizations to create documentary media that fosters active engagement in cultural and civic life.

Cuicacalli | 2781 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Contact- E: cuicacalli.sf@gmail.com or O: 415-672-6550 | Class Information and Registration

Summer Camp | Registration Form | Schedule | Class Description | Fees

Cuicacalli (House of Culture) is a year-round youth dance program, based at Brava Theater in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District-the ​​unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula. Founded in 2008 by renowned international performer Jesus “Jacoh” Cortes, Cuicacalli is an international, cross-cultural, dance-arts educational institution, providing Indigenous, Ballet Folklórico, and Contemporary Dance programs.

The Cultural Conservancy Sacred Land Foundation | 1016 Lincoln Bluvd #5, San Francisco, CA 94129

Contact- E: tcc@nativeland.org or O: 415-561-6594

Youth and Elders are integrated into all of our work, which is inherently intergenerational, as we work together to clear the spring of our minds, hearts, bodies and communities, serving not only living generations, but also our ancestors and descendants. Youth and elders in our programs engage in activities such as harvesting and weaving native tule plants, participating in community workshops to build canoes, holding night astronomy sessions with traditional Hawaiian navigators teaching Native star sciences, and studying clean water systems to revitalize traditional water springs in the historical Presidio National Park of San Francisco.

  • Apprenticeships & Internships
  • Youth Arts
  • Native Youth Guardians of the Waters Program

Horizons Unlimited of San Francisco, Inc. | 440 Portrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110

The DJ Project Programs/Class | Ages 16-26 | Contact: Nancy Abdul-Shakur, Program Manager | O: 415 - 487 - 6714 or E: nancy@horizons-sf.org

​The DJ Project’s one-of-a-kind DJing classes harness the hip-hop culture and use it as a medium through which youth validate their own existence and express themselves. Under the guidance of a world-renowned DJ and scratch guru, youth participate in a variety of cutting-edge and industry specific skill building trainings such as scratching, digital DJing, and live performances, while also engaging in lessons in professionalism, project management, artist development, and collaboration. Our youth have gone on to become high-profile DJs in the industry while contributing to a cultural movement that promotes inclusion and attachment.

Trainings culminate in public performances during in-house events such as graduation ceremonies and orientations, but also at highly attended and famous community events such as Carnaval.

Eligibility/Commitment

  • Youth and young adults ages 12-26
  • Willing to commit to an 8-month program
  • Able to commit to programming twice per week
  • Excited to learn industry skills

Japanese Community Youth Council (JCYC) | 1840 Sutter Street, Suite 207, San Francisco, CA 94115

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) | 2868 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Contact MCCLA: 415-796-6422

Presidio Dance Theatre | 2902 Lyon St, San Francisco, CA 94123 
Contact - E: info@presidiondance.org or O: (415) 561-3958
Presidio Dance Theatre (PDT) is a program of the Presidio Performing Arts Foundation (PPAF). PPAF’s mission is to create cultural change, global dialogue and human connection through the artistry of dance. PPAF preserves, enhances and presents dance, music and theatre traditions in their historical context, increasing public knowledge and appreciation of peoples and art forms throughout the world.

Community Engagement

  • Youth Company | Ages 5 to 18 | Youth Ensemble & Elite Division | E: presidiodance@gmail.com
    • Presidio Dance Theatre's Youth Company provides young dancers, ages 5 to 18, with the opportunity to study Vaganova-style Ballet, Folk, Character & Historical Court Dance, and perform alongside the Adult Company in PDT Signature Productions. Youth Company students have been accepted into professional dance companies, college dance programs and summer programs with Kirov, Royal, Bolshoi and American Ballet Theaters. 
       
  • DANCEOUT!
    • Presidio Dance Theatre community outreach program, DANCEOUT!, provides opportunities for sustained engagement in the arts, while advancing racial equity and supporting youth development. In partnership with SFUSD and the YMCA, 280,000+ Bay Area students and families have benefitted from our programming, including our annual Children’s Day at the SF War Memorial Opera House, a multicultural dance presentation highlighting the diversity and inclusive spirit of California. 99% of our students pursue a college degree and 85% of DANCEOUT! students are the first in their families to attend university, the majority receiving scholarships for dance. 

San Francisco Children's Art Center (SFCAC) | Fort Mason Center, Bldg C San Francisco, CA 94123
Contact: sfcac@childrensartcenter.org | SFCAC Scholarships

  • Summer Camps Grades K-5 and 1x a Week for Children ages 2-5 | June 10 - August 24
  • Summer Camp Descriptions
  • Scholarships
  • Drop-in Classes 
    • In once-a-week classes, our inquiry-based approach supports an exploratory process. Tailored to children’s stages of development, our classes sequentially build children’s creative skills, social interaction, imagination, and reflective dialogue with both the teaching artist and peers.

San Francisco Historical Society | 608 Commercial Street, San Francisco, CA 94142
Contact: Lana Constantini, SFHS Director of Educaiton and Publications, E: lana@sfhistory.org

San Francisco Youth Theatre (SFYT) | 3106 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Contact - E: info@sfyouththeatre.org or O: 415-571-1234

Tech in the Tenderloin | 1446 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Contact- E: info@techinthetenderloin.org 

Tech in the Tenderloin (TNT) expands career imaginations and life possibilities for low-opportunity youth and families in our city's and nation's most challenging neighborhoods by connecting them with high-opportunity tech through fun events and educational activities.

  • Tech Clubs, Event, Field Trips, Tech Initiatives, & Spark Sessions

The MIX at SFPL | 100 Larkin Street, San Franciosc, CA 94102
Contact: O: 415-557-4404 or E: themix@sfpl.org

Check out the San Francisco Public Library's resources, programs, and services for Middle School and High School Youth

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival (YBGF) | Venue: Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission St. (Between 3rd & 4th Sts.) | Office: 760 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Contact: 415-543-1718 | Now through October 2023

Youth Art Exchange (YAX) | 5137 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 

 Contact- O: 415-574-8137 or E: info@youthartexchange.org 

Youth Art Exchange sparks a shared creative practice between professional artists and public high school students, furthering youth as leaders, thinkers, and artists in San Francisco.

YAX Summer 2024 Programs | Middle School Instensives and High School Internships

FREE SFUSD HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES | Orientation for high school classes, Wednesday, September 13th 4:30pm. Classes start the week of September 18th.

  • Prinmaking | Photography | Architecture Studio | Comic Book Illustration | Fashion Design | Mixed Media Sculpture | Architecture Internship | Mural Arts Internship | Prinmaking Internship  

     

  • Please note, YAX has changed their registration system to better manage enrollments and communicate with participants and families. Parents/guardians and students should complete the applications together as there are specific questions for both. If you need support completing an application, please contact info@youthartexchange.org.

The Arts Education Community Events and Activities shares information and links of upcoming Community Events for the month of April 2024 - See below and the Arts Education Community Event Dates. 

SF Arts Commission Galleries
Conversation 8 Featuring work by Harry Dodge and Alicia McCarthy | Main Gallery | 401 Van Ness Ave, Suite 126, SF, CA 9410
Gallery Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 12 pm -5pm | Masks Recommended
Exhibition: Now to April 27, 2024| Free

About the Exhibit: 

The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Main Gallery is pleased to present Conversation 8: Harry Dodge and Alicia McCarthy, a two-person exhibition curated by Bay Area-based curator Nancy Lim.

This exhibition marks the eighth iteration of the Conversation series launched in 2005 that features a substantive body of work by a local artist alongside works by another artist based outside of the Bay Area. The intention of the series is to allow for a closer look at two artists’ practices as well as to connect dialogues happening locally among artists with those happening across the globe. Past pairings have included artists Farah Al Qasimi (New York) & Marcel Pardo Ariza (San Francisco); Jason Hanasik (San Francisco) & Berndnaut Smilde (Amsterdam); Marcel Dzama (New York) & Alice Shaw (San Francisco); and Oliver Herring (New York) and Tim Sullivan (San Francisco).

Conversation 8 brings together the work of Alicia McCarthy (Bay Area) and Harry Dodge (Los Angeles), two longtime friends with close ties to San Francisco. 

Bay Area Now 9 - YBCA | Now - May 5, 2024
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, SF CA | Open Wednesday - Sunday 11am - 5pm

  • General Admission: $9* | *Free admission for Youth, Students, Educators, Seniors, Military Personnel, and more. | Tix

    Bay Area Now 9 is the ninth iteration of YBCA’s signature triennial exhibition highlighting artists working throughout the Bay Area’s nine counties. Each BAN is an attempt to answer the question: What are artists making, thinking, dreaming about right now? Central to BAN—and to YBCA as an institution—is the investment in and platforming of the vibrant creative communities which surround us. Featuring over 30 multidisciplinary artists—a nod to YBCA’s upcoming 30th anniversary—the exhibition features numerous new commissions spanning our campus.

    Forgoing a preconceived theme for this year’s BAN, the Curatorial + Exhibitions Team took over one hundred artists into consideration and conducted dozens of studio visits under the advisory of YBCA’s inaugural Curatorial Counsel. The resulting selection of artists demonstrates a focus on materials and subject matter that often collapse time and place, bringing us closer to our personal and collective ancestry as a site for healing and regeneration. Honoring intimacy—connections with oneself, friends, and family—is a driving motivation. Taking an analytical approach to the Bay Area’s built and natural landscapes, artists observe, interrogate, and ponder notions of infrastructure, industry, and interconnectedness.

    But these are just suggestions—we invite you to define BAN9 on your own terms.

Brava for Women in the Arts/Brava Main Stage | 2781 24th Street, SF, CA

Kapwa Gardens | 967 Mission Street, SF, CA

Manilatown Heritage Foundation | 868 Kearny Street, SF, CA

SFUSD Presents the 2024 Citywide Youth Arts Festival (PDF Flyers/Images Attached)- SFAC April Newsletter

Saturday April 27, 2024 | Time: 10am-4pm | Free + Open To The Public

SFUSD Arts Presents the 2024 Citywide Youth Arts Festival- Click Link for More Info
Celebrate the art works of over 5,000 SFUSD students through visual arts exhibitions, digital media screenings, and performing arts showcases throughout the city of San Francisco.  
8 Main Venues Throughout SF- Asian Art Museum, Children's Creativity Museum, DeYoung Museum, Balboa Artwalk, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Youth Art Exchange, San Francisco State University, Ruth Williams Opera House, La Promenade

Weeks-Long visual art exhibitions, Digital media screenings, LIVE Performing arts showcase

Activities form community partners
Early Learning Showcase | Children's Creativity Museum, 10am-11:30am

  • Looking for a fun morning with your little one? Join us at Chldren's Creativity Museum for hands-on, Interactive visual and performing arts activities from arts partners Including Children's Art Center, SF Youth Theater, and Alonzo LINES Ballet!
  • Continue the fun with a FREE carousel ride!

Visual Art Exhibitions: Enjoy visual artworks from 125+ classrooms On View from April 4 - April 29 *Check Each venue for specific dates

  • Asian Art Museum: April 4 - April 29, View the works of SFUSD visual arts students throughout the grand staircase and more!
  • DeYoung Museum: April 4 - April 29
  • Mission Cultural Center: April 4 - April 29
  • Youth Art Exchange: April 27, 10am-4pm - Youth Arts Summit & Digital Media Screening
  • San Francisco State University: April 17 - April 28
  • Ruth Williams Opera House: April 4 - April 29
  • La Promenade: April 4 - April 29
  • SF Arts ED at Minnesota Street Project: April 4 - April 29

Performing Arts Showcase | April 27 from 10am-4pm for dance, music, and theater performances across eight different venues.

  • Balboa Art Walk
  • Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
  • Youth Art Exchange
  • San Francisco State University
  • Ruth WIlliams Opera House

Digital Media Screening | Enjoy Digital Media works screened at this year's Youth Art Summit on April 27 at Youth Art Exchange.

Friday April 19, 2024 at 6pm | Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Finals | Taube Atrium Theater 4th Floor | 401 Van Ness, SF
Youth Speaks in Association with the San Francisco Public Library | Teen Poetry Slam | Get FREE Tickets HERE

Youth Art Exchange (YAX) | YAX Studioes at La Fenix (1950 Mission St. between 15th & 16th Sts.)
YAX's Youth Advisory Board Presents...Artmaking Parties | Free | RSVP HERE or just drop by

Youth Art Exchange Spring Session | Now - May 16, 2024Sign Up for Classes Here

  • Animation, Architecture, Hip Hop Dance, Photography, Fashion Design, Music Production, Mural Arts, and Printmaking

.The Art Education Directory provides access to a profile list of San Francisco-based Arts Education Organizations and Programs which includes details about the following below. If there is an Arts Education Organization and Program you would like to add to the list please contact Program Officer Jonell T. Molina at jonell.molina@sfgov.org  or 415-252-2218.

Information About the Program

Name of Artist/Organization

Contact Information: Address, Contact Number, Email Contact, and Website (If available)

Organization Type: N/A, Arts Organizer, Teaching Artist, Arts Administrator/Coordinator

Type of Program/Services Offered by the Program:

  • Field Trip takes place off school grounds and includes structures for student interaction and engagement
  • Performance takes place at the school site, fits into a 45-60 minute time frame (the length of a typical assembly program) and includes structures for students interaction and engagement.
  • Workshop includes one to four instructional sessions working with the same group of students each session and may include performance or field trip opportunities
  • Residency Includes  five or more sequential instructional sessions working with the same group of students each session and may include performances or field trip opportunities.
  • Professional Development includes providing art education lectures, workshops, or seminars to teaching artists or art organizations.
  • Advocacy & Community Organizing incldues individuals and organizations that serve as a link between teh arts education community and public agencies.

Filter for a Specific Category(ies):

  • Grade Level: Pre-K, TK, Grades K-5, Grades 6-8, High School, Post High School, All Ages, Adults, and Seniors
  • Discipline: Dance, Literary Arts, Media, Multi-Discipline, Music, Storytelling, Theater, Visual Art
  • Subject(s): History, Language Arts, Math, Science, N/A
  • Languages: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Chinese (Cantonese), Spanish, Filipino (Tagalog), Russian
  • Professional Development Type: Arts Integration or Deepenign Disciplinary Knowledge

Program Description

Arts Education Directory

 

The Arts Education News and Resources section will provide share updates on local, state, and federal Arts Education developments; offering upcoming professional development opportunities and Arts Education Meetings.

In the News

SFUSD Arts Department (PreK-12 Arts) Website
SFUSD Arts Department Newsletter

Art on Market Street Poster Series: Mabuhay Market Street! Market Street Poster Series Finding Filipino Makes Its Official Debut - Click Here

California Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Proposition 28 and Prioritizes Arts Education for All Students; Create CA Calls for Equity and Accountability in its Implementation - Click Here for Report by Create CA

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

ARTS EDUCATION RESOURCE PAGES
Arts Administrators of Color (AAC) Network Website  

Arts Education Alliance of the BAY AREA (AEABA) Website  

ART EQUITY Website

California Arts Council Website 

CReate CA Website  

Justice Funders Website

International FUNDERS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES  Website

National Endowment For the Arts (NEA) Website  

Pawanka Fund Website 

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) PreK-12 Arts Department Website  

The CEnter for cultural power Website
 

Poetry Out Loud is an annual (November - March) free, tiered recitation competition supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and California Arts Council, where students choose poems from the POL website anthology (www.poetryoutloud.org) that resonate or speak to them. Students memorize and recite these poems in a performance competition, beginning at the classroom/school level or afterschool program. One student champion will represent their school/program at the San Francisco County competition, the county champion will compete at the state competition, and the state champion will represent California at the national competition. The national champion wins a grand prize of $20,000! POL is a way to introduce/expose teens to Literature/Poetry, developing their public speaking skills, and being able to add this onto their resume/personal statements/scholarships for college as well.

For questions about the Poetry Out Loud (POL) Program, please contact Program Officer Jonell T. Molina at jonell.molina@sfgov.org

Poetry Out Loud Website 

SF 2024 SF County Poetry Out Loud Competition Results
1st Place/ 2024 SF POL County Champion: Alex Hong, Lowell High School, Grade 10
2nd Place/Runner-Up: Shingki Mo, Lowell High School, Grade 10
3rd Place: Kaylee Martinez, Lowell High School, Grade 10
4th Place: Sara Bundaa, Lowell High School, Grade 10

The Artivist-in-Residence (AIR) is a grant program for a nonprofit arts organization to hire teaching artists as part-time hourly employees to design and implement socially responsive art and creative exploration learning experiences (e.g. in-person, hybrid, remote) as a means to heal and build community. In turn, teaching artists are provided equitable compensation and opportunities to further their artistic practices and professional development as educators in a three-year cohort.

For questions about this grant category, please contact Program Officer Jonell T. Molina at jonell.molina@sfgov.org or 415-252-2218.

What's Coming Up

Public Meeting

Executive Committee Meeting

December 18
/
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Hybrid: 401 Van Ness | Rm 125 and Online
Public Meeting

Visual Arts Committee Meeting

December 16
/
2:30 PM to 6:00 PM

Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 408 and Online
Public Meeting

Community Investments Committee Meeting

December 09
/
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 416 and Online
Public Meeting

Full Arts Commission Meeting

May 06
/
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Hybrid: City Hall | Rm 416 and Online