The goal is to enhance the quality of life through the arts with programs that are accessible to and affordable for a large and diverse public.

$25,000 to the ALMEIDA THEATRE COMPANY, London, U.K., for The Silent Twins, a new opera by contemporary classical composer Errollyn Wallen to be presented during the 2007 Almeida Opera Festival.

$50,000 to the AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER, San Francisco, Ca., for the world premiere production of Bay Area playwright Philip Kan Gotanda’s After the War that chronicles the return of first-and second-generation Japanese-Americans to their neighborhoods in San Francisco after being forcibly incarcerated in internment camps during World War II.

$150,000 over three years to the ASIAN ART MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO for Dragon’s Gift: An Exhibition of Art from Bhutan, an exhibit to open in October 2008.

$25,000 to the CALIFORNIA EXHIBITION RESOURCES ALLIANCE, Oakland, Ca., to develop Sing Me Your Story, Dance Me Home: Art and Poetry From Native California, a traveling exhibition featuring contemporary art by California Native artists, contextualized by poetry and multimedia music and dance presentations.

$250,000 over five years to the CONTEMPORARY JEWISH MUSEUM, San Francisco, Ca., for the capital campaign for the new building for the museum.

$12,100 to the DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO for a multi-media public installation at Pier 39 and other public spaces, to call public attention to the potential rise in sea level in San Francisco from global climate change. This is a collaborative project involving the Department of the Environment, the Sierra Club, and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

$50,000 to INTERSECTION FOR THE ARTS, San Francisco, Ca., for the production of The Hamlet Project: Blood in the Brain at Intersection and Laney College Theater in Oakland, a play development and production project involving California Shakespeare Theater, lead playwright Naomi Iizuka, Intersection and its resident theater company Campo Santo, and emerging young writers/performers and community residents of Oakland.

$150,000 over three years to LOS CENZONTLES MEXICAN ARTS CENTER, San Pablo, Ca., for Cultures of Mexico in California, a multi-media performance and educational project to document, teach, present, and disseminate traditional and classical Mexican music and dance, and to examine the evolving cultural identities among Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans in the U.S.

$50,000 to ODC THEATER, San Francisco, Ca., for Dance in the Community: New Works Initiative, to create and produce eight new works by contemporary choreographers, including two politically inspired dance pieces by ODC/Dance choreographers, and six works by choreographers from the San Francisco Bay Area’s diverse ethnic communities.

$50,000 to OPERA CIRCUS, Dorset, U.K., to commission a new chamber opera in English and Bosnian by British composer Nigel Osborne and Bosnian poet/librettist Goran Simic, which is inspired by traditional Sevdah music from Bosnia.

$50,000 to the ROYAL COURT THEATRE, London, U.K., for the Young Writers Festival, which showcases works by young writers up to age 26 from around the world, and gives young writers the opportunity to have their work performed on the Royal Court stage.

$60,000 over two years to SAN FRANCISCO CAMERAWORK for the International Artists Initiative, a series of exhibits to foster the creation and presentation of new works by international artists from diverse regions, including China, Japan, and the Middle East.

$25,000 to SHADOWLIGHT PRODUCTIONS, San Francisco, Ca., for Monkey at Spider Cave, a new work that explores the intersection between traditional shadow theater and American theatrical and cinematic techniques, and is based on the story of how Buddhism was brought to China.

$26,208 to the SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF NEW MUSIC, London, U.K., for the Headline Season of Events 2006/2007, a series of performances curated by composer and pianist Rolf Hind that will showcase new music by some of the most talented new composers in the U.K. in a variety of styles.

$50,000 to TÊTE À TÊTE, Middlesex, U.K., for the London premiere of Odysseus Unwound, a new opera commission by British composer Julian Grant involving a co-production between Tête à Tête and knitters from the Shetland Islands. The production will combine the art forms of opera, knitting, and spinning to tell a contemporary cautionary tale of the horrors of war based on the mythical story of Odysseus.

$50,000 to THE OPERA GROUP, London, U.K., for two new commissions that use theater, music, and story-telling to explore issues and experiences of interest to diverse, non-traditional opera audiences; one co-produced with the Young Vic Theatre in London and a tour to other venues in the U.K.