Approach

What makes Vital Arts different?

We support artists outside of institutions.

The Bay Area’s creative landscape is home to many esteemed institutions and amazing nonprofits. But what about the artists themselves? Independent thinkers, informal collaborators, and creative experimenters are often at the greatest risk of displacement. They are not eligible for most existing grants and subsidies. Yet they attract an engaged audience, and their innovative cutting-edge experimentation with all forms of art enriches our community and often forms the basis for the next new trend in the arts or deepens existing approaches to art and music. Just as the Bay Area is home to an unprecedented array of cutting-edge companies and technologies, Vital Arts supports those who are experimenting in cutting edge artistic creations.

We address housing and the arts — simultaneously.

Vital Arts actively works with others to fight displacement through preservation, advocacy and supporting development of affordable space for artists to live and work to prevent their exodus from the Bay Area. For example, in Oakland alone, there is more than 280,000 square feet of live/work space in the creative underground community, representing at least 360 affordable dwellings, across 5 council districts. Residents of these spaces are at threat of eviction due to pressure from building inspectors, private developers, and an influx of higher paid employees. By helping to legalize these spaces and secure their safety, we ensure they continue to provide affordable housing, arts space, and performance venues for the community.

We focus on sustainable, long-term solutions.

We seek projects and properties set up to be affordably priced over the long term, and those contractually obligated to support arts uses. We favor situations where properties can remain available to artists in perpetuity and that won’t transition into market rates that artists can’t afford.