Its mission is to support artistic expression and its enjoyment through grantmaking aimed at the sustainability of high-quality San Francisco Bay Area organizations and to achieve this through the following broad objectives:

• Stimulating increased access to and participation in the arts
• Increasing exposure to and understanding of diverse cultural expressions
• Enhancing opportunities for creative expression for both artists and audiences
• Promoting long-term organizational health

In order to reach these objectives, the Performing Arts Program has a strategy that includes:

• Long-term investment through ongoing, multiyear operating support with the shared goal of artistic/programmatic vitality and organizational health
• Use of mutually agreed upon, individually tailored incentives, when needed, to leverage organizational change such as endowment, capital, cash reserve, and challenge grants to enhance the stability of arts organizations
• Addressing the challenges and opportunities that a fluctuating, highly competitive Bay Area real estate market has created for arts organizations that need affordable administrative, rehearsal, and performance space
• Leadership role and participation in regional or national initiatives that affect Bay Area arts organizations and the field
• Research and promulgation of field-wide best practices