We believe that culture is an essential catalyst for change. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of arts institutions to spur and support societal movement. Our mission is to generate culture that moves people.
Ruling year info 1987 Chief Executive Officer Sara Fenske Bahat Main address 701 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103 USA Show more contact info
Contact Email contact available with a Pro subscription
Fundraising Contact Lauren Macmadu Head of External Relations Fundraising contact phone: (415) 350-1884 [email protected]
Physical Address 701 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103
Payment Address 701 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103
Donation Payable Legal name of organization: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
EIN 94-3042571 NTEE code info Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose (A20) Performing Arts Centers (A61) Youth Development Programs (O50)
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a public benefit corporation located in the most culturally diverse region of the United States. The organization's work spans the realms of contemporary art, civic engagement, and public life. YBCA knows that culture is essential for positive change. Therefore, it is the responsibility of arts institutions to spur societal movement. YBCA believes the best way to do this is by supporting artists as thought leaders, innovative problem-solvers, expert communicators, and catalysts of inspiration in our communities. YBCA is redefining the role an arts institution can play in empowering all citizens to shape their future. By allowing artists of diverse mediums, backgrounds, and viewpoints to create works that grapple with and offer solutions to the manifold and unprecedented challenges of our time we hope to create a more inclusive, just, and beautiful society.
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Supporting artists who are having impact in their communities, by expanding and deepening our connection to these artists through our Senior Fellows program, film residency, and work with CultureBank. YBCA’s Senior Fellows are Brett Cook and Liz Lerman, artists, educators, and community builders who use visual and performing arts as drivers of social and cultural change. The San Francisco Urban Film Festival will spend two years in residency at YBCA, reimagining a film program that centers community voices and storytelling to bring people together around issues of urbanism. CultureBank invests in artists who are in service to their communities, building prosperity in communities traditionally left behind by financial institutions.
Population(s) Served Artists and performersIn order to alleviate the most immediate needs of our artistic community YBCA partnered with Zoo Labs, Black Joy Parade, and Always Win Together to launch Artists Now, a relief initiative for those artists most impacted by financial losses. Over $175,000 has been distributed to 350 artists, with priority given to BIPOC, women, and LGBTQIA+ people. 94% of recipients have a household income of less than $55,000 a year, and 80% are facing food and/or housing insecurity. These relief payments will help our valuable but vulnerable artists stay in their communities and continue their important work.
Population(s) Served Economically disadvantaged people Unemployed peopleBy advancing policy and thought leadership, building strategic partnerships, and convening key stakeholders, it is designed to change the way we think about investing in the arts and build new pathways for artists and arts workers. Through our work with the San Francisco Arts Alliance, the Mayor's Economic Recovery Task Force, and the Governor’s Jobs and Business Recovery Task Force, YBCA is a conduit between government and the artist community to ensure the future of the arts.
As the first arts organization to join the Well Being Alliance, a group of 26 leading national organizations, we advance arts and culture into a holistic well-being and the conditions that are necessary for everyone to live safe, healthy, and connected lives. Additionally, YBCA continues to bring artists to the table at convenings, as in the case of SOCAP 2020, where a cohort of artists from across the country joins YBCA at the biggest impact investment conference in the world.
Population(s) Served Artists and performersContinuing YBCA’s 26 year legacy of providing educational offerings to underserved youth, YBCA is transforming its facility into a Community Learning Hub for the Fall 2020 semester, providing a safe and digitally accessible distance learning space for at risk youth.
Stepping up to the Mayor’s call to create equitable access to learning resources for students in need, enrollment will be prioritized for San Francisco Unified School District students with the highest need, including children and youth from low-income households, residents of HOPE SF and public housing, youth experiencing homelessness, foster youth, and English Language Learners.
Enrolled students will be matched to facilities within their neighborhood at sites operated in partnership with the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families. As one of 45+ Hubs around the city, YBCA’s site is unique, offering critical open facility spaces, a learning environment inside galleries featuring art by Bay Area artists, and proximity to the Yerba Buena Gardens’ outdoor area.
Population(s) Served Children and youth At-risk youthThe Artist Power Center was created to build a sustainable and dynamic platform for sharing resources, knowledge, and opportunities, while connecting creatives with each other. While the initial focus has been on pandemic relief, we envision a long-term tool that levels technology, access, and information gaps as well as enables artists to create their own employment models and support networks.
The platform is accessible for no charge via phone, chat, and online, currently in two languages (English and Spanish). The community that uses it is able to easily add to and edit, allowing participants to guide its evolution. The Artist Power Center will also be a repository of stories about the impact artists have had in their communities. By demonstrating the power of artists as change-makers we can strengthen advocacy and civic engagement and create a more equitable society.
Population(s) Served Artists and performers
Our Creative Ecosystem project, a series of think tanks that gathers creative thinkers, artists, activists, professionals and citizens from around the Bay Area.
Choreographer Kyle Abraham talks about his year-long development of work with YBCA. Here, Abraham talks about assembling his company, the aesthetic of improvised dance, and the notion of privilege.
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
YBCA aims to build regenerative communities in our 9 county region, incorporating both rural and urban, large and small cities and towns. To accomplish this, YBCA will build the capacity of artists in service to community, under the belief that communities are the builders of the best models for themselves and that artists are central actors for this work.
Furthermore, YBCA uses its infrastructure to reach community members with programming that is both thought-provoking and imaginative, and audiences frequently have the opportunity and are encouraged to interact directly with the artists, activists, community leaders, curators, and one another as part of the experience. Audience members and visitors provide regular feedback through surveys, focus groups, and interaction with YBCA staff that is used to help shape the user experience.
With a brand promise to be the creative home for civic action, YBCA strives to ensure that experiences are inclusive, inspiring, and safe. YBCA promotes a mission and brand-driven culture that connects external and internal stakeholders to one another through cultural experiences.
YBCA is committed to a financially stable organization by building revenue capacity through new earned and contributed revenue initiatives, particularly in individual giving, corporate sponsorship, and foundation funding.
YBCA's mission is to generate culture that moves people, and it does this through four key strategies that place artists as central figures in this work and reflect a commitment to equity and justice.
Ecosystem development, focused on growing the Artist Power Center and its impact. The Artist Power Center is a digital platform and staffed supportline launched initially to help artists and cultural workers navigate emergency relief and designed to continuously evolve its forum and resource center to help artists build long-term careers. The online platform allows artists to share knowledge, exchange resources and opportunities, advocate for what matters, and create connections across sectors to strengthen the creative community across the United States.
By advancing policy and thought leadership, building strategic partnerships, and convening key stakeholders, it is designed to change the way we think about investing in the arts and build new pathways for artists and arts workers. Through our work with the San Francisco Arts Alliance, the Mayor's Economic Recovery Task Force, and the Governor’s Jobs and Business Recovery Task Force, YBCA is a conduit between government and the artist community to ensure the future of the arts. As the first arts organization to join the Well Being Alliance, a group of 26 leading national organizations, we advance arts and culture into a holistic well-being and the conditions that are necessary for everyone to live safe, healthy, and connected lives. Additionally, YBCA continues to bring artists to the table at convenings, as in the case of SOCAP 2020, where a cohort of artists from across the country joins YBCA at the biggest impact investment conference in the world.
By expanding and deepening our connection to these artists through our Senior Fellows program, film residency, and work with CultureBank we support artists who are having an impact. YBCA’s Senior Fellows are Brett Cook and Liz Lerman, artists, educators, and community builders who use visual and performing arts as drivers of social and cultural change. The San Francisco Urban Film Festival will spend two years in residency at YBCA, reimagining a film program that centers community voices and storytelling to bring people together around issues of urbanism. CultureBank invests in artists who are in service to their communities, building prosperity in communities traditionally left behind by financial institutions.
Executing offerings that builds from a core group of artists and is rooted in a virtual and physical public engagement strategy. As part of its YBCA 100 framework, YBCA is committing to a group of artists that involve the public in the process of creating and iterating works over the course of a year that address racial, climate, economic, and health justice. Additionally, YBCA will offer physical and digital program offerings within a public art series, neighborhood-based art commissions, and online conversations and experiences.
Deeply rooted in the Bay Area and focused on contemporary living artists YBCA is uniquely positioned to serve as a support system and platform for artists creating work that is most relevant to our time and challenges.
YBCA was founded in 1993 as the cultural anchor of San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens development and is one of the nation's most innovative arts institutions. Each year, more than half a million people participate in programs at the downtown campus and throughout the community. The Center presents hundreds of programs annually, making YBCA a hub of creative energy throughout the year. YBCA places equal emphasis on visual arts, performing arts, the art of film, and its civic engagement work and its resources are directed towards developing new, innovative cultural programs that serve the community.
YBCA's Board of Directors is a diverse group of Bay Area residents comprising business executives, civic leaders, and cultural leaders. Together they oversee YBCA's strategic priorities, its financial stability, and its advocacy in the community. Standing committees of the Board include Governance, Advancement, and Finance.
Under the direction of CEO Deborah Cullinan, the organization is led by a distinguished Cabinet of cultural leaders including Meklit Hadero, Chief of Program; Valerie Brown, Chief Marketing Officer; Jonathan Moscone, Chief Producer; Jodi Cobalt, Chief of Operations; and Penelope Douglas, Chief of Strategy and Revenue.
Approximately 80% of YBCA's operating budget goes toward direct program expense, and YBCA maintains diversified revenue streams to support its programs activities. Contributions come from individuals, foundations, corporations, and from government agencies such as the City of San Francisco, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. Earned revenue comes from gallery admissions, ticket sales, exhibition fees, facility rental fees, and naming rights. YBCA also receives income from Dream House Raffle ticket sales.
YBCA maintains dozens of collaborative partnerships with entities throughout the Bay Area, including the City of San Francisco, the San Francisco Unified School District, the Yerba Buena Cultural District, and the Yerba Buena Business Alliance. Together with its collaborators, YBCA is able to undertake impactful cultural programming online and throughout the city.
YBCA has continued to be responsive to the needs of its community, launching multiple initiatives in response to the current challenges caused by COVID-19.
In order to alleviate the most immediate needs of our artistic community YBCA partnered with Zoo Labs, Black Joy Parade, and Always Win Together to launch Artists Now, a relief initiative for those artists most impacted by financial losses. Over $175,000 has been distributed to 350 artists, with priority given to BIPOC, women, and LGBTQIA+ people. 94% of recipients have a household income of less than $55,000 a year, and 80% are facing food and/or housing insecurity. These relief payments will help our valuable but vulnerable artists stay in their communities and continue their important work.
The Artist Power Center was created to build a sustainable and dynamic platform for sharing resources, knowledge, and opportunities, while connecting creatives with each other. While the initial focus has been on pandemic relief, we envision a long-term tool that levels technology, access, and information gaps as well as enables artists to create their own employment models and support networks. The platform is accessible for no charge via phone, chat, and online, currently in two languages (English and Spanish). The community that uses it is able to easily add to and edit, allowing participants to guide its evolution. The Artist Power Center will also be a repository of stories about the impact artists have had in their communities. By demonstrating the power of artists as change-makers we can strengthen advocacy and civic engagement and create a more equitable society.
Continuing YBCA’s 26 year legacy of providing educational offerings to underserved youth, YBCA is transforming its facility into a Community Learning Hub for the Fall 2020 semester, providing a safe and digitally accessible distance learning space for at risk youth. Stepping up to the Mayor’s call to create equitable access to learning resources for students in need, enrollment will be prioritized for San Francisco Unified School District students with the highest need, including children and youth from low-income households, residents of HOPE SF and public housing, youth experiencing homelessness, foster youth, and English Language Learners. Enrolled students will be matched to facilities within their neighborhood at sites operated in partnership with the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families. As one of 45+ Hubs around the city, YBCA’s site is unique, offering critical open facility spaces, a learning environment inside galleries featuring art by Bay Area artists, and proximity to the Yerba Buena Gardens’ outdoor area.
Through its support of artists working in community, new platforms for investing in and connecting community members, and programs and experience that catalyze creative thinking and action, YBCA is and will continue to use arts and culture to drive social impact.
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice. done We shared information about our current feedback practices.