Maestro Michael Morgan, music director of the Oakland East Bay Symphony. Photo courtesy of Pat Johnson and the Oakland East Bay Symphony.

For forty years, the Hewlett Foundation's Performing Arts Program has played a leading role in the arts and culture of the San Francisco Bay Area. What began with a commitment to classical music has expanded into a  diversified program with a core belief in the power of art to imbue life with meaning value, and pleasure. The program emphasizes artistic breadth in one of the most culturally diverse regions in the country.

The Performing Arts Program supports artistic expression and encourages public participation in the arts. Grants sustain many quality organizations, from such well-established ones as the San Francisco Symphony and Berkeley Repertory Theatre to the more experimental organizations such as Intersection for the Arts, which presents new and alternative performances in such areas as dance, music, and literature.

Despite the region's cultural bounty, the performing arts face great  challenges. One  is simply the difficulty of attracting and retaining talented artists because of the Bay Area's high cost of living. Also, California gives fewer dollars to the arts, per capita, than any other state in the nation and spends the least on arts education in the public schools. This neglect takes a toll: students miss the benefits of experiencing the arts at an early age, hundreds of smaller theater companies struggle to survive, and even mid-size organizations are dogged by deficits.

The Hewlett Foundation's Performing Arts Program seeks to address these challenges through grants that support arts organizations and opportunities for artists.