Partnership
Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions applications require a partnership between:

• a nonprofit organization (lead applicant) headquartered in one of eleven Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, or Sonoma;
• and a lead artist, based anywhere in the world.

Applications will be submitted on behalf of the partnership by the nonprofit organization, which is designated the lead applicant. Applications from nonprofit organizations that are not exclusively focused on the arts are welcome and encouraged. To find out more about the Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions, and past awardees, please visit this page.

Eligible genres

• Media art with a strong live performance element (i.e., time-based, movement-based, etc.)
• Hybrid performance (live theater, music, and dance) centering the use of emerging media arts technology
• Social practice/socially engaged art that center the use of performance and emerging technology

Genres not eligible*

• Documentary film
• Feature film

*While projects that are primarily documentary and feature films are not eligible, we welcome performance-based media arts projects that incorporate elements of feature film and documentary.

Application
The application is broken into two rounds. In the first round (the Letter of Inquiry round), all applicants will submit information about your organization’s eligibility, lead artist, project, and work samples. Applicants invited to the second round (the Full Application round) will have six weeks to submit a timeline, budgets, and additional information about the lead artist and collaborators. Applicants designated finalists will have two weeks to submit a Memorandum of Understanding. Please see the Application Handbook for a full breakdown of what will be asked in each application stage. We strongly recommend you prepare your materials beforehand.

Review Process
A national panel of artist-practitioners and field experts knowledgeable about media arts will review and score all eligible applications and select finalists. Final awards will be based on a combination of recommendations from the panelists and from the Hewlett Performing Arts Program staff. All project reviews will be informed by the Hewlett Foundation’s aim to award projects that are diverse by genre, geography and artistic voice.

Proposals will be evaluated using the following selection criteria (please note that the first two criteria—Project and Partnership—will be weighted more heavily than the third, Audience):

• Project: Conception and Innovation
• Proposal clearly articulates the subject matter and major theme(s) of the proposed project and explains how the work will illuminate or advance the key theme(s).
• Proposal demonstrates boundary-pushing, bold, inventive and singular vision in form with the potential to challenge the status quo and spark new conversations in its given field and for the larger arts community.

• Partnership: Artist Experience and Organizational Capacity
• The lead artist’s training and accomplishments demonstrate why they are positioned to be in the distinctive role of lead artist. Proposal communicates the artist’s depth of thought and distinct creative approach to the theme(s).
• Proposal convincingly shows how the lead applicant, lead artist, and key collaborators have the capacity to fully realize the project, and that the applicant has the financial capacity to fulfill the commissioned project without creating great financial strain on the organization. Strong proposals will give evidence that the project brings together the administrative and artistic resources, knowledge, and team to ensure the project will be created and produced as planned.
• Audience: Accessibility and Impact
• Proposal describes outreach, promotion and community engagement activities (if any), and explains any efforts toward greater accessibility, such as disability access, language, ticketing policies, or public events beyond the performance.
• Proposal describes the intended constituents, participants, and/or audiences for the new work, and describes the impact the proposed project is likely to have on the art form, the cultural community, and/or the artist(s).

Please note that Creative Capital staff does not make decisions regarding who is awarded the commissions. A grant review panel will result in recommendations that will inform the final decisions, which are made by the Hewlett Foundation.