Yerba Buena Gardens Festival In San Francisco Awards Commissions To 20 Bay Area Artists

The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival celebrates its 20th Anniversary by inaugurating the Endurance, Hope, and Community Commissioning program. The $2,000 "mini-commission" to 20 Bay Area artists allows for the creation, continuation, or completion of specific performing arts projects. YBGF's intention is to continue this exciting new program in future years. Since 2000, the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival has presented, each year from May to October, over 100 free music, theater, circus, dance, poetry, and children's programs with artists from the Bay Area and around the world, outdoors, at Yerba Buena Gardens in downtown San Francisco. The global pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 Festival and compelled the organization to become a year-round presenter of off-site programming including partnering with San Francisco Community Music Center for the "Creating Voices" conversation series this month and in January 2021. For more information, visit YBGFestival.org.

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival is committed to supporting artists and their pursuits toward artistic excellence, innovation, and inclusivity. Over the years, playwrights, composers, and choreographers have partnered with the Festival to produce amazing works that push the boundaries of their careers and their respective fields. The Festival is proud to have supported the creation and presentation of a multitude of different works including musical suites, dance performances, circus shows, theater plays, youth educational series, and interdisciplinary arts programs.

The 2020 Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Endurance, Hope and Community Commissions program is collaboratively curated by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Director of Programming Marcelo Avilés and Art Consultants Cristina Ibarra and Preston Justice.

Here is the list of 2020 recipients and brief project descriptions:

Samara Atkins, a showcase exploring and celebrating many facets and strengths of the Black woman.

Bay Area Theater Company, a recording of their song "Love You (Like We're 6 feet Apart)."

Javier Cabanillas, a new danceable composition based in "community" dance and rhythms.

CMC Youth Jazz Orchestra (Marcus Shelby), a musical suite collectively guided by the young musicians' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and racial justice uprisings of 2020.

Kev Choice, piano trio centered project responding to themes of love, roots and community.

Diana Gameros, a multimedia piece sharing moments of joy and hope during times of isolation and loss.

Baruch Porras-Hernandez, a multidisciplinary performance exploring queer love and a celebration of San Francisco.

Jackie Keliiaa, a semi-autobiographical TV pilot for a dramedy series exploring gentrification in a rapidly changing Bay Area, race, culture, trauma and recovery.

Calvin Kai Ku, a short film featuring interconnected stories of four characters brought together by a game of Mahjong.

La Doña, video documenting the work to achieve justice for Sean Monterrosa.

Calina Lawrence, new solo EP featuring the indiginous Lushootseed language of Lawrence's Coast Salish heritage.

Patrick Makuakāne, short film documenting a series of prayer-chant-dance focused ceremonies welcoming a renewed sense of hope.

Cava Menzies, an original composition of spoken word, audio interviews and music reflective of the present climate and imagining a collective future.

Tongo Eisen Martin, exploring pan-generational efforts of art and resistance with artist and Black Panther Party member Emory Douglas through poetry and conversation.

Orchestra Gold, new music and a multimedia video reflective of their creative process and how artists have needed to adapt current changes in the arts and economy.

Alleluia Panis, a cultural ceremony honoring spirit of the dead.

Sentimiento y Mañana, an album dedicated to the Cuban Changui music traditions.

Joti Singh, dance/spoken-word exploration of the Ghadar Party and intersections with contemporary acts of resistance.

Lalin St Juste, a new R&B/acoustic/electronic EP featuring a narrative around queer sexual identity.

Valerie Troutt, songs created in the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, speaking to "The Five Keys: Love, Truth, Vision, Joy and the value of practicing Self Care."

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival is well-known for the diversity of its programs and audiences and all of these recipients represent this diversity. Many of the artists have appeared at a previous Festival, were booked for 2020, or are new to the Festival. Each artist or group selected has a distinct voice and purpose to their work and are involved in community organizing and social justice work.

As part of this commissioning program, artists were asked to submit a short project proposal, biographical information, a headshot, and engage in an artist interview. Additionally, artists may choose to share a work-in-progress or the piece in its entirety if the piece is further along in development. If conditions allow for public programs and gathering in 2021, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival will contract the artists for a public program where the piece can be premiered or presented.

"This program is an incredible way to celebrate the Festival's 20-year history of commissioning artists while providing support to Bay Area artists during this extremely difficult time," says Cristina Ibarra. "One of the really exciting things about this program is that it offers support for the creative process rather than the product. Part of this is out of necessity - we are unable to gather for performances at this time. But, it is also a beautiful opportunity to support artists and keep the Bay Area artist community strong and thriving."

"The Festival has always strived to share messages of Endurance, Hope, and Community through all of its programs and we tried to identify individuals and groups whose work embodied these values," says Preston Justice. "We are delighted to support the recipients' creative process and we look forward to seeing the fruit it bears."

This program is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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