Economic Development + Arts

When the economy tanks, budget cuts to the arts follow.  Sustainability is the core issue that prevents artists and culture bearers from moving past surviving to thriving. We see the potential of the arts as an economic engine for SOMA Pilipinas. UNDISCOVERED SF has proven that Filipino-American music, dance, food, and fashion is an attraction. Kultivate Labs has invested $120k in artists fees over the course of 3 seasons of UNDISCOVERED that has generated over $820k in economic activity an almost 7x Return of Investment!

Creating a new hub for Filipino-American culture is no easy task. Past initiatives have failed miserably racking up $100,000s of debt and dis-engeaging the vibrants arts community. To rectify these past grievances we are starting over from scratch and reimaging what a Filipino-American Cultural Center could look like.

Balay Kreative will be built on a foundation of economic sustainability. For the next 5 years we will test and refine different monetization strategies to prove that our future Balay will be a self sustaining hub for Filipino-American culture. Some of our ideas involve simple pairings like dinners and shows. For example, is there an audience of theater goers willing to also pay for dinner? Can we expose high-end diners to underground theatre by using food as a gateway? We believe that the multi-faced nature of Filipino-American arts and culture is an opportunity for us to cross pollinate different audiences to make the arts scene thrive. Other income streams we want to test involve workshops, merchandising, licensing, classes, and developing a strong annual donor base of like-minded Filipino patrons of the arts.

To test our theories, collect data, and build deep relationships with the multitude of artists and arts organizations in our community we have set aside $100,000 fund to invest in new programs. Our $100,000 grant fund is the first of it’s kind for the Filipino-American arts community. Our arts fund is open on a rolling basis. Every month 15th of the month we announce new projects that are being invested in. We hope by generating various income stream strategies, we can continue to issue out $100,000 a year to our arts and arts organizations to fuel the flame of a Filipino arts renaissance.