The Kenneth Rainin Foundation announced Tuesday the awarding of $500,000 in grants to four local arts organizations for temporary public art projects in Oakland and San Francisco.
The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, Flyaway Productions, Galería de la Raza and Youth Speaks will each receive six-figure grants from the foundation. Selected from a field of 35 other applicants, the awardees are expected to complete their projects within the next 18 months.
The grants come from the foundation's Open Spaces program, an initiative to provide more public art in the Bay Area. The program began two years ago as a way to engage local communities with art that speaks to bigger issues, such as immigration and displacement.
"It's not like we're sticking a statue in a neighborhood," said Amanda Flores-Witte, the communications director for Kenneth Rainin Foundation. "We're looking for ways to bring people together that wasn't possible before."
These projects "awaken people to what civil engagement is all about," said Flores-Witte.