Grantee Database
Kathleen Hermesdorf FRESH Festival
Grant Year
2023-24
Grant Program
General Operating Support
Award Amount
$46,749.00
Project Description
With support from the California Arts Council, the Kathleen Hermesdorf will FRESH FESTIVAL will continue to present an annual 2-3 week festival of contemporary dance, performance, Somatics, and music in the Mission and Tenderloin neighborhoods of San Francisco that prioritizes work by LQBTQAI+, BIPOC, and femme-identified artists spanning disciplines, genres, ages, and cultural diversity and is produced by a collective leadership team that is 80% QTBIPOC and comprised of working artists. Funds will be used to support fair wages for the leadership team, an increase in accessibility services, and general operating costs. It will also fund stipends for a new Arts Administration Apprenticeship Program that will train future curators and administrators of KHFRESH, giving valuable work experience and skill-building to younger artists.
Organization Summary
PROGRAMMING: Annual 10 day to 2 week-long festival of experimental dance, performance art, somatics, and music in the Mission and Tenderloin neighborhoods of San Francisco. Curation prioritizes work by LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, disabled, low-income and/or femme-identified artists spanning disciplines, genres, ages, and cultural diversity. FRESH works to increase economic accessibility as well as accessibility and belonging for disabled, blind, and deaf audiences and participants. The Festival annually presents up to 2 weeks of performances, workshops, community forums, and exchanges that lift up cutting-edge Bay Area artists and present them alongside international artists. 2025 programming includes site-specific performances at CounterPulse and Aunt Charlie’s bar in the Tenderloin. FRESH 2025 is scheduled for late February to early March 2025.
SERVICES: FRESH Festival is artist-run by a collective leadership team. We provide critical training, high-quality performances, well-paid creative opportunities, and vital skill-building in arts administration to Bay Area artists. We help increase participation in curation, fundraising, performance, and leadership as a way to combat gatekeeping, inequity, and imbalanced resource distribution in the arts. All programming has NOTAFLOF (no one turned away for lack of funds) ticketing, and we offer a work/exchange program to allow artists or patrons to attend any event for free in exchange for volunteer labor. We host all programming in ADA accessible venues, and offer audio description for the blind as well as ASL interpretation for the Deaf at performances.
SERVICES: FRESH Festival provides living wages and a curated, highly visible platform to share performance and teaching work by early, mid, and late-career artists from the Bay and beyond. FRESH presents rigorous training and cutting-edge performances, panels, gatherings and other high-caliber programming that Bay Area dancers and artists crave, maintaining San Francisco’s reputation as a world-class artistic hub. We prioritize serving BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, low-income and/or femme artists and audiences.
Organization
FRESH Festival
Address
44 Gough St
San Francisco
94103
County
San Francisco
Region
Bay Area – San Francisco
Phone
(361) 935-3100
