California Black Voices Project
The California Black Voices Project grants, a state-wide initiative to address the systemic racism inherent in the art world, directly supported the work of California artists and curators that vitally contribute to the visual arts.
The five grantees, Dr. Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins, Leila Weefer, Toni Scott, Rashaad Newsome, and Indira Allegra were each granted $10,000 and exhibition support and space at the 1275 Minnesota Street Project to feature newly developed works throughout 2021–2022.
Grants for Arts Equity
The Grants for Arts Equity, a community-based program announced in 2020, awarded five Bay Area visual arts organizations serving black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and other historically marginalized audiences, each with a $10,000 capacity building grant. The intent of the funds was to help sustain and strengthen arts engagement in BIPOC communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The five organizations awarded were Counterpulse, Betti Ono, Art Handlxrs*, Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation, SF Urban Film Fest.
Joint Space Award
The Joint Space Award, announced in 2021, leveraged a unique collaboration between the Minnesota Street Project Foundation and The Space Program San Francisco. The award was an opportunity to utilize both organizations’ physical and digital spaces to recognize and reward the ambitious work of an individual Bay Area BIPOC artist. The Joint Space Award grantee received a financial award of $5,000, plus a one to two-month residency at The Space Program. During their residency they were equipped with the tools, expertise, and up to an additional $5,000 in materials needed to complete their proposed artwork. Following their residency, the grantee’s resulting artwork was presented online through Minnesota Street Project Adjacent, the Project’s virtual space for art, and installed physically at the Project’s 1275 Minnesota Street location.
The Joint Space Award grantee Connie Zheng, a Chinese-born visual artist, writer and filmmaker based out of Oakland, California, created the exhibition, new yamfish seed exchange (nyse), that was on view at 1275 Minnesota Street in Gallery 211 and online.
Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco
The Minnesota Street Project Foundation’s commitment to redefine giving, through the leveraging of resources and relationships to support innovative programs, provided the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF) with the initial partnership and support needed to realize its early goals.
Together with the Minnesota Street Project, the Minnesota Street Project Foundation’s unique support for the ICA SF included acquiring, supplying, and operating the building, as well as leveraging the Foundation’s resources and expertise in navigating the realization of physical art spaces in San Francisco, securing and guaranteeing the lease on the ICA SF’s building, and partially underwriting the building and infrastructure. The ICA SF opened to the public in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood at 901 Minnesota Street in September 2022.