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AboutUs

Photo by Mogli Maureal

We believe arts and culture are essential for vibrant communities and neighborhoods.

CAST — the Community Arts Stabilization Trust — is a community-centered real estate organization committed to ensuring artists and cultural workers can stay anchored where they create.

CAST tours with San Jose-based group Local Color, December 2023

Arts are our center. In deep partnership with communities across the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly communities that have endured historical underinvestment, we believe artists and cultural workers should be valued and rewarded for their work and recognized as key building blocks of a healthy society.

 

CAST models new ways to secure and steward affordable, inclusive spaces for creative and cultural expression. Our programs and services have helped arts organizations build pathways to ownership, enabled artists to secure long-term affordable leases, and created dedicated spaces for cultural connection and exchange.

Explore Our Programs & Services
Our Story

In 2012, CAST emerged at a time when artists and nonprofits were leaving the Bay Area because they couldn’t afford to stay. From an idea that asked, “What if all nonprofits and artists could buy their buildings?” to its founding in 2013, CAST provides solutions that have helped transform access to space for artists and nonprofits in the Bay Area and beyond.

Read Our Story
2012

CAST is first incubated as an idea within Community Vision (then the Northern California Community Loan Fund) amidst a tech boom that was creating a surging real estate market and pushing many artists out of San Francisco.

2012

CAST is first incubated as an idea within Community Vision (then the Northern California Community Loan Fund) amidst a tech boom that was creating a surging real estate market and pushing many artists out of San Francisco.

2013

Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) is formally established as a nonprofit, seeded with a $5M grant from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation.

2013

Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) is formally established as a nonprofit, seeded with a $5M grant from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation.

2014

CounterPulse and the Luggage Store Gallery are selected as CAST’s first two pilot projects in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods of San Francisco and the buildings are acquired.

2014

CounterPulse and the Luggage Store Gallery are selected as CAST’s first two pilot projects in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods of San Francisco and the buildings are acquired.

2015

Construction at CounterPulse and Luggage Store begins.

The MOU for 447 Minna is signed with CAST and Brookfield Properties (then Forest City).

2015

Construction at CounterPulse and Luggage Store begins.

The MOU for 447 Minna is signed with CAST and Brookfield Properties (then Forest City).

2016

Renovations are completed at CounterPulse and Luggage Store and the buildings are open to the public.

CAST launches its Keeping Space – Oakland program offering technical real estate assistance and workshops to Oakland arts groups.

2016

Renovations are completed at CounterPulse and Luggage Store and the buildings are open to the public.

CAST launches its Keeping Space – Oakland program offering technical real estate assistance and workshops to Oakland arts groups.

2017

CAST is cited as model by the World Cities Culture Forum.

CAST begins developing Culture Compass, a new digital tool mapping physical cultural assets in San Francisco, co-developed with the San Francisco Arts Commission and Stamen Design.

2017

CAST is cited as model by the World Cities Culture Forum.

CAST begins developing Culture Compass, a new digital tool mapping physical cultural assets in San Francisco, co-developed with the San Francisco Arts Commission and Stamen Design.

2018

The Cultural Space Ambassadors is formed in Oakland, a cohort of artists, cultural workers, community activists and advocates to explore solutions around long-term space and a healthy arts ecosystem.

2018

The Cultural Space Ambassadors is formed in Oakland, a cohort of artists, cultural workers, community activists and advocates to explore solutions around long-term space and a healthy arts ecosystem.

2019

Culture Compass launches to the public. CAST partners with the San Francisco Parks & Recreation department in a new landmark project at the Geneva Car Barn & Powerhouse in the Excelsior neighborhood.

The historic Dempster building at 447 Minna in South of Market is donated to CAST by Brookfield Properties as part of a community benefits agreement with the City.

2019

Culture Compass launches to the public. CAST partners with the San Francisco Parks & Recreation department in a new landmark project at the Geneva Car Barn & Powerhouse in the Excelsior neighborhood.

The historic Dempster building at 447 Minna in South of Market is donated to CAST by Brookfield Properties as part of a community benefits agreement with the City.

2020

Renovations at Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse are completed and arts partner Performing Arts Workshop moves in.

Construction begins at 447 Minna. Second cohort of Cultural Space Ambassadors and Dreaming Spaces in Oakland is launched.

2020

Renovations at Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse are completed and arts partner Performing Arts Workshop moves in.

Construction begins at 447 Minna. Second cohort of Cultural Space Ambassadors and Dreaming Spaces in Oakland is launched.

2021

#StartSmall makes a $4.5M grant to support programming and tenant subsidies at 447 Minna.

CounterPulse launches its final capital campaign to complete the purchase of its building at 80 Turk St from CAST.

2021

#StartSmall makes a $4.5M grant to support programming and tenant subsidies at 447 Minna.

CounterPulse launches its final capital campaign to complete the purchase of its building at 80 Turk St from CAST.

2022

CAST moves into its new home at 447 Minna and opens to the public, welcoming new arts partners Women’s Audio Mission and PUSH Dance Company into the building.

CAST is invited by the Black Cultural Zone to develop a market hall and cultural hub with affordable housing in East Oakland.

CAST makes a $1M investment in the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose, expanding its portfolio to the South Bay.

2022

CAST moves into its new home at 447 Minna and opens to the public, welcoming new arts partners Women’s Audio Mission and PUSH Dance Company into the building.

CAST is invited by the Black Cultural Zone to develop a market hall and cultural hub with affordable housing in East Oakland.

CAST makes a $1M investment in the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose, expanding its portfolio to the South Bay.

2023

CAST celebrates its 10th anniversary.

CounterPulse successfully raises the funds needed to buy its home at 80 Turk St from CAST.

2023

CAST celebrates its 10th anniversary.

CounterPulse successfully raises the funds needed to buy its home at 80 Turk St from CAST.

Work With Us

Our values are at the heart of everything we do. We’re looking for individuals who share our passion for innovation and community.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some answers to commonly asked questions about our work.

We work in deep partnership with communities across the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly communities that have endured systemic oppression and historical underinvestment.

CAST models new ways to secure and steward affordable, inclusive spaces for creative and cultural expression. We do this by applying real estate financing tools and structural models in innovative ways, building community knowledge and agency, and creating and holding space for visioning and arts activation. Our programs and services have helped arts organizations build pathways to ownership, enabled artists to secure long-term affordable leases, and created dedicated spaces for cultural connection and exchange.

  • CAST supports our community-based partners to take on projects that require additional capacity, providing experience, financial resources, and partnership to achieve goals that would otherwise be more challenging, particularly real estate outcomes.
  • CAST supports building teams to navigate the rough and risky waters of real estate development for cultural and community facilities. Specifically, by bringing our experience, capacity, and relationships to support our partners at the most opportune times for cost-effectiveness and project success.

At the moment, we’re focused on supporting Bay Area artist communities and organizations experiencing challenges in space affordability or displacement.

To better assess your needs, please fill out our intake form first, and learn more about our services by attending a CAST info session. Our Community Engagement team look forward to meeting you!

The intake form gives us a snapshot of who you are and how you align with CAST’s values and mission. It’s about understanding the priorities and needs of the artists or nonprofits who need our support, assessing what is needed financially, and then developing a solution that fits where they’re at, organizationally.

Please see below for our basic eligibility requirements and priorities for partnership. 

Basic Eligibility: CAST serves San Francisco Bay Area individual artists, culture bearers, and arts & culture organizations and projects that have been actively practicing and/or programming for 1 or more years.

We prioritize arts & culture nonprofits and fiscally-sponsored projects that serve artists & cultural workers in San Francisco and Oakland with demonstrated programming over the past 3 or more years.

Equity & Inclusion Priorities:

  • BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ Leadership: BIPOC or LGBTQ+-led and BIPOC or LGBTQ+-serving: Building equitable access to real estate resources, especially for communities of color and disadvantaged communities.
  • Displacement Risk & Impacts: Honoring legacy communities and acknowledging current and historical impacts.
  • Community Impact: Creating access to the creation, production, and presentation of arts and culture for systemically under-resourced or under-recognized groups, such as Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous communities.
  • Place-keeping: Recognizing and serving your immediate, hyper-local neighbors, prioritizing neighborhoods CAST is actively working in.
  • Arts & Culture Ecosystem Position: Acknowledging impacts and opportunities of place and location in the Bay Area, and how projects impact the ecosystem.

To ensure a space remains an arts and culture asset in perpetuity, CAST maintains a 1% asset management interest in the operating agreement of the building. This allows us to preserve and enforce the ongoing arts and cultural use so the building can not be sold to anyone other than a nonprofit arts organization.

In the case of CounterPulse, the purchase gives CounterPulse a 99% interest in the LLC, with CAST retaining 1%. That remaining share and a deed restriction ensure that should CounterPulse ever sell the property the buyer would need to be an arts nonprofit.

At 447 Minna, we welcome a range of arts and cultural practices spanning from visual arts to performing arts, contemporary to experimental, and everything in between.

We wrap physical space around artists’ and organizations’ needs, especially those with deep community roots. We aim to provide local communities with interactive, engaging art and opportunities for connection. To be a truly thriving cultural hub, it’s key that we provide accessible space and resources that will preserve SoMa’s legacy and diverse history.

Areas of focus:

  • Equitable practices
  • Intergenerational & youth programming
  • Multidisciplinary and community artist collaborations
  • Pilipinx, LGBTQ+, POC Artists, and cultural heritage celebrations that uplift traditions
  • Emerging artists
  • Wellness and healing through arts
  • Community and non-profit use
  • Transformative justice

We are not a grantmaker.

We seek organizations that need a partner organization and we invest in a partnership to assist with acquisition and construction. Our goal is to be bought out through future fundraising and to build the capacity of our partners to operate their facilities. We also seek to create economies of scale between our partners to reduce operating expenses, such as insurance maintenance and other expenses.

We help create an opportunity for gathering all the right people (that includes funders, real estate developers, technical consultants, civic and community leaders, arts and culture groups) to form the tapestry that creates a thriving cultural hub. For those facing space challenges, we help weave together the threads by connecting those working in arts and culture to the proper resources, be it tactical, financial, or social.

 

Get Involved

Invest in CAST

We’re looking for partners who want to work with us to create a new paradigm in real estate.

Volunteer with CAST

We’re always looking for volunteers for events and community outreach.

Co-create with CAST

Want to dream something up with us? Reach out about opportunities for arts & culture activation.