This website features header photos showcasing artists and performances. Full photo descriptions are available on our Accessibility & Credits page.

Evaluation
Print Page

External links should open in:

Expandable content should start:

Accessibility Notice

Evaluation Process
  • There is no limit to the number of applications accepted by the foundation each quarter.
  • Grantseekers are evaluated across disciplines.
  • Applications are evaluated by a rotating panel of Bay Area artists
  • Final approval for all Community Arts grants is determined by the Zellerbach Family Foundation Board of Directors
  • Reporting requirements for all Community Arts grants will be detailed in grant agreements.
Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation of Community Arts grants is based on four criteria, each of which is assigned a score of either 1, 4, 7, or 10. The scores for each criteria are then averaged, weighted, and combined, for a total possible score of 100. Criteria are used to ensure a consistent and equitable approach is taken in evaluation. While scores provide a framework for conversation among panel members, they are not the only factor that influences funding decisions. Scores alone do not determine whether a grant is recommended for funding.

  • 30% Relevance and urgency of organization/project – How clearly did the grantseeker articulate the necessity of the work of the organization at this moment? Why is this work being done, and why now?
  • 30% Artistic excellence/craft – Who is doing the work and what is the level of skill and craft exhibited in the work?
  • 30% Community served – How rooted is the grantseeker in the desired community, what is the plan for reaching the intended community, what is the need of the community being served?
  • 10% Capacity – Does the grantseeker have a reliable organizational structure or confirmed plan for execution of the project; is there staff capacity, confirmed resources, and clarity of purpose? Does the grantseeker have necessary community connections and support?

Community Arts Panelists

Applications are evaluated by a rotating panel of six Bay Area artists representing multiple disciplines, geographic areas, aesthetic styles, and backgrounds. Panelists are respected experts and mentors in the Bay Area arts community; each panelist serves a three-year term.

Select a photo to view bio.

Maurya Kerr (she/her)

Maurya is the artistic director of tinypistol. Much of her work—across the disciplines of movement, language, and film—is focused on black and brown people reclaiming their birthright to both wonderment and the quotidian. Read more.

Eric Garcia (he/him)

Eric is a San Francisco-based devised dance-theater artist, drag queen, community organizer, and the Co-Director of Detour. He creates immersive and site-responsive performances that straddle nostalgia, radical futurism, collaborative ensembles, and queer maximalism. Read more.

Leigh Rondon-Davis (they/them)

Leigh is a theatre performer, dramaturg, director, and producer who has worked widely both within the Bay Area and national industry. They attended Wellesley College and were a member of Oakland's Laney College Fusion Theatre Project. Read more.

Kimberley Acebo Arteche (she/they)

Kimberley is an educator, cultural worker, and interdisciplinary artist. Her work explores the hybrid cultures formed by technology, movements of immigrants in America, and the way movements through space and spaces has been affected by these two. Read more.

Lisa Mezzacappa (she/her)

Lisa is a Berkeley-based composer, bassist, and producer who has been an active part of California’s music community for nearly 20 years. Her activities as a composer and ensemble leader include ethereal chamber music, electro-acoustic works, adventurous jazz, non-traditional opera, music for groups, and collaborations with film, dance, and visual art. Read more.

Margo Hall (she/her)

Margo is an award-winning actor/director/playwright/educator and the Artistic Director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and was recently awarded the 2021 Kenneth Rainin Fellowship in Theater and listed as one of the YBCA 100 honorees. Read more.