San Francisco Guaranteed Income Pilot for Artists (SF-GIPA)
The San Francisco Guaranteed Income Pilot for Artists (SF-GIPA) provided $1,000 monthly cash payments to 130 San Francisco artists disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, administered by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in partnership with the City and County of San Francisco. Launched in May 2021 with initial city funding for a planned 6-month run, it was extended to 18 months (through October 2022) after YBCA secured roughly $3.4-3.5 million from Jack Dorsey's #StartSmall Foundation and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The 130 recipients were selected via an online application, an income cap, and a 13-zip-code eligibility filter, narrowed through a partially randomized/lottery process. Payments were unconditional with no restrictions on use, though YBCA conducted optional surveys to study impacts. YBCA separately ran a related second guaranteed-income initiative for 60 additional artists (the Creative Communities Coalition for Guaranteed Income), which is a distinct program from SF-GIPA.
Artists, COVID-19 Relief, Guaranteed Income, BIPOC/LGBTQ+ Focus, One of First Guaranteed Income Pilots for Artists Nationally
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA)
- City
- San Francisco
- State / Province
- California
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Phone
- +1 415-978-2700
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 130
- Funding type
- Government, Philanthropic
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 18,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 1,000 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 18 months
- Distribution Type
- Direct Deposit
- Benefit details
Each of the 130 selected artists received $1,000 per month via direct deposit for a total of 18 months (extended from an initially planned 6 months), for up to $18,000 total per participant; YBCA reports $2.34 million dispersed to this cohort overall. The extension was funded by roughly $3.4-3.5 million from Jack Dorsey's #StartSmall Foundation and MacKenzie Scott, on top of initial City of San Francisco funding. Payments were unconditional and unrestricted. Recipients were asked, but not required, to complete periodic surveys about how the payments affected their lives.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Applicants had to be artists age 18+ whose artistic practice was 'rooted in a historically marginalized community,' live in one of 13 San Francisco zip codes identified as hardest-hit by COVID-19, demonstrate COVID-19-related income loss, and fall under a household income cap (reported as up to $60,900 for a one-person household or $69,600 for a two-person household). The program prioritized BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, immigrant, and disabled artists from communities historically underfunded by traditional arts funding sources. The 130-artist cohort was selected via an online application (open March 25-April 15, 2021) narrowed through a partially computerized, randomized (lottery-style) process.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 18
- Race / ethnicity targets
- Priority given to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) artists, program also prioritized LGBTQIA+, immigrant, and disabled artists from historically marginalized/underfunded communities.
Family
- Household size (maximum)
- 2
Health
- Disability status
- Yes
- Health conditions
- Covid-19 (documented pandemic-related income loss)
Financial
- Income limit (annual household)
- $69,600
- Banked status
- Banked
Geography
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- San Francisco
- Counties covered
- San Francisco County
- ZIP / postal codes covered
- 94102, 94103, 94107, 94108, 94109, 94110, 94112, 94115, 94117, 94124, 94130, 94134, 94158
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Optional
- Research / participation requirements
YBCA CEO stated recipients were not required to participate in research but were asked to complete periodic/occasional voluntary surveys about how the guaranteed income affected their lives; this data informed YBCA's public learnings and a field paper on the pilot's design and launch. Seed data lists the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine as an affiliated research partner, but this could not be independently corroborated in available public sources during this research pass.
Application Process
- How to apply
For the original 130-artist cohort, artists applied online via a form on YBCA's website during an open application window (March 25 - April 15, 2021), providing information to establish eligibility (age, zip code residency, artistic practice tied to a marginalized community, income loss, and income cap). A later, separate 60-artist cohort under the related Creative Communities Coalition for Guaranteed Income was not application-based; artists were instead nominated by six partner community organizations.
- Selection process
YBCA used a partially computerized system to verify eligibility from over 1,000 applicants, then narrowed the pool to 130 recipients through a randomized (lottery-style) process in the later stages, rather than ranking by financial need.
