NEW (New and Experimental Works) Program Grant

The NEW Program provides unrestricted and artist fee support grants to small and mid-size dance, theater and multidisciplinary arts organizations that enable Bay Area artists to produce visionary projects relevant to the communities they serve.

• Small and mid-size organizations
  
• Applicant annual budgets range from the minimum budget requirement of $10,000 to approximately $2M. 
• Projects that support artists to deepen or experiment within their individual practice and/or expand the boundaries of dance and theater
• Compelling projects relevant to the communities they seek to serve
• Unique artistic collaborations
• Projects that compensate artists at a significant level.
• Projects are required to designate at least half of the grant funds to the artistic project team and their direct expenses for creating the work. The remaining half is unrestricted to the applicant organization.
• Productions in outdoor, site-specific or alternative venues with activities in San Francisco and Oakland
  

Projects must have a public presentation of some kind but are not required to have a fully produced performance component. For example, grant funds may be used to support research and development, work-in-progress showings, readings, films of project activities, etc. Public presentations may be in-person (in accordance with public health guidelines) and/or virtual.

At least one-half of the grant funds must go to the artistic project team and their direct expenses for creating the work. The remaining one-half of the grant funds are unrestricted to the applicant organization. This is a baseline minimum, and projects may allocate more than one-half of the grant to artist fees. Projects that compensate artists at a significant level will be prioritized.