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Mapping the Greater Bay Area Black Arts and Cultural Ecosystem (BACE) Map
On February 24, 2026, the Black Funders Network (BFN) convened our member community for a conversation about cultural anchors that sustain arts communities laid the groundwork for mapping Black arts and cultural ecosystems across the Greater Bay Area. Esailama Artry-Diouf (San Francisco Foundation), Debrah Giles (East Bay Community Foundation), and Demetria Huntsman (Akonadi Foundation) shared insights and observations to inform the community about their learnings and approaches to arts funding. The BFN community gained perspective on the interconnected infrastructures that sustain Black artists and creatives in their practices through the shared stories of grantmakers impacting the arts.
As a follow-up to the February convening, BFN is proud to release the first iteration of our Black Arts and Cultural Ecosystems (BACE) Network Map, co-created with Esailama Artry-Diouf (San Francisco Foundation), Debrah Giles (East Bay Community Foundation), and Demetria Huntsman (Akonadi Foundation). The BACE Network Map is designed to serve as a resource for grantmakers seeking to connect with arts organizations. BACE provides a data-driven snapshot of the infrastructure sustaining Black communities across the 25-County Greater Bay Area region.
BFN’s BACE Network Map aggregates information on the landscape of arts organizations and other entities that sustain artists and collectives across the the Greater Bay Area, Sacramento, and the Central Valley corridor. BACE mapping helps build a shared, data-driven picture of the Black arts infrastructure, equipping funders to make informed, intentional, and high-impact investments. BACE mapping helps build a shared, data-driven picture of the Black arts infrastructure, equipping funders to make informed, intentional, and high-impact investments.
The BACE mapping project aims to identify and describe essential networks that support and sustain Black artists and creatives across the Greater Bay Area. This data will support cross-sector grantmaking efforts to link arts and cultural infrastructures to prosocial health outcomes. We hope that the project will facilitate peer-to-peer relationships among funders, inspiring long-term and deeper investment in Black Arts community infrastructure.
This first BACE iteration includes a list of initial community-complied organizations, cities, counties, and website links. Future iterations will include updated information validated by representatives from the mapped organizations.
The map includes:
A community compiled directory of essential arts organizations
Geographic mapping by city and county to identify regional trends
Direct access to organizational websites for information about the organization by the organization
