Outdoor Art Club Grants
The Outdoor Art Club’s gifts to the community extend through direct financial support in the form of grants to nonprofit organizations nominated by its members. The Club has donated over $925,000 in grants that align with the OAC’s core values. Over the years they have supported organizations in the realms of environmental conservation, women’s causes, health, education, the arts and supporting the underserved. In the fiscal years 2025-2027 our two areas of focus are Food Insecurity, and from a civic perspective, Marin Beautification.
Our 2025 - 2026 Grant Recipients
Food Insecurity & Marin Beautification
SF/Marin Food Bank
Funds would be immediately used to help source, purchase, and distribute fresh and nutritious food to over 5,000 households across Marin County every week. Because of our sophisticated sourcing program, every dollar raised provides two meals-worth of nutritious food. ~10% of who we serve to is through our fresh grocery delivery via our Home Delivered Grocery Program. The rest is distributed at 43 Marin-based partner pantries.
Photo Credit: SF-Marin Food Bank
Marin City Historical and Preservation Society
The purpose of this grant is to support the expansion of the Marin City Legacy Banner Project, a public art and outdoor beautification initiative that honors the original Black Marinship workers who helped build Marin City during World War II. Funding will support the design, fabrication, and installation of 10 new street pole banners along key community corridors, allowing us to recognize additional Marinship workers whose family connections and historical documentation have recently been verified. This proposal directly responds to current beautification needs in Marin City. Donahue Street and Golden Gate Village are highly visible, heavily traveled pedestrian and transit routes, and the banners add color, dignity, and cultural meaning to everyday public spaces. The existing banner installation (78 banners installed in 2024-2025) has generated strong community engagement and pride, and it has also prompted more families to come forward with names, photos, and recordscreating a timely need to expand the installation so more verified ancestors can be publicly represented. In a community shaped by migration, resilience, and cultural legacy, beautification is not only aesthetic—it is also about visibility, respect, and belonging in shared spaces.
Photo Credit: preservemarincitylegacy.org
Extra Food
Extra food delivers free, nutritious groceries and meals to every community in Marin County, serving 110 total safety net food distribution partners, over 38% of whom are based in San Rafael and 19% in Novato. Additionally, ExtraFood delivers fresh food to communities in West Marin and Marin City, where residents lack sufficient access to fresh, healthy, affordable food, 365 days a year. ExtraFood's free daily and weekly fresh food deliveries, over half of which are directly to low-income housing sites where people live, or to school sites where families can pick up food when picking up their children, help our recipient partners provide complete and healthy meals to more people in need of support, and frees up our nonprofit partner's limited financial resources to fulfill their clients' other critical needs.
Photo Credit: Extra Food
Friends of China Camp
The park's relatively remote location makes it a target for occasional dumping by unscrupulous contractors, landscapers, and individuals who seek to avoid the fee at Marin Sanitary's Recovery Center.
There is a flat stretch of N. San Pedro Road starting at Chicken Coop Hill and heading 500 feet east toward Buckeye Point that has dense poison oak vegetation, making accessibility impossible to that location's trash. We have the green light and landscaping guidance from the California State Parks district office to have Forster & Kroeger Landscape Maintenance cut back the poison oak only where trash has been deposited while protecting the poison oak that acts as "screening" between the road and the sensitive tidal salt marsh. As part of the scope of work, the contractor has stated that "all related debris will be removed for disposal." Friends of China Camp is committed to preserving the park's cultural and natural history, maintaining its 15-mile trail network, keeping the park and road corridor free of trash, and protecting the tidal salt marsh, which is the largest, original, intact marsh in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Center for Domestic Peace
CADP will serve domestic violence survivors and their children throughout Marin County. It is our priority to ensure that diverse and traditionally underserved populations have equitable access to our services. All participants who receive assistance with food will be low income, and approximately 60% will have children. Based on prior demographics served, we estimate that 75% will be from populations of color, at least 30% will be immigrants, and at least 25% will have a mental, emotional, developmental, or physical disability and/or chronic health condition.
Photo Credit: Marin Magazine
2024 - 2025 Grants
❋ Center for Domestic Peace
Forty non-abusing parents and their children will receive group therapy to help alleviate long-term impacts to their physical and mental health. Parent/child groups help families explore their traumatic experiences so that they can begin the healing process after experiencing domestic violence.
❋ MV Chamber of Commerce – Enjoy Mill Valley FundIconic Mill Valley mosaics will be added to the concrete base the OAC originally placed at Lyton Square for a flagpole. Each of the eight sides will be covered with an artist’s rendering of Mill Valley scenes.
❋ NAMI Marin CountyProvide support for underserved Spanish-speaking women dealing with a loved one with serious mental health problems. Translation services, family support group, and Family-to-Family programs will also be offered.
❋ The Hannah Project 
The Hannah Project will present a one-day Parent University in the fall of 2025. The event will be open to all parents with children in the TK – 12th grade in the Marin City/Sausalito, Tamalpais School Districts. All of the workshops will be in English and Spanish. Childcare will be provided as well as a continental breakfast and lunch.
❋ Enriching Lives Through Music
ELM serves the Canal neighborhood whose most pressing challenge is transcending inter-generational poverty. ELM provides youth with immersive music education and resources that inspire them to pursue their dreams. Grant funding will be used for a two-week summer chamber music camp for 25 middle school ELM students.
❋ O’Hanlon Center for the ArtsOur grant will help reduce fire risk and enhance the health of the natural environment for all to enjoy. Hazardous nonnative plants will be removed and replaced with California natives that are more fire resistant.
❋ Make It Home Bay AreaFully furnish a home for five Marin families in need. Nearly all of the furnishings are donated, but all mattresses and bedding are purchased new. The results of Make it Home’s work is pride of place, dignity, and confidence, leading to healthier outcomes for families.
❋ The Street ChaplancyWe will increase our 2024 Tuesday meal service of 5750 meals to 6000 meals in 2025, Will be able to sustain and not cut our weekly meal budget of $350. We can ensure that we serve quality, nutritious whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains as well as vegetarian or vegan options if requested. Meal service is offered to the homeless, food insecure, disabled, and immigrant populations.
❋ Extra FoodFunds will be used to:
Recruit and train additional volunteers
Support staff time for Program Coordination
Develop and distribute educational materials
❋ Marin Community Clinics
Essential outreach, coordination, and incentives for two mammography screening events hosted by Marin Community Clinics in partnership with Marin Health will be funded by the OAC grant. This project aims to make breast cancer screening more accessible and to encourage participation in underserved populations.
❋ Marin Foster CareThis grant will provide thirty-five sessions of therapeutic support to care for the mental health of foster families and ensure they can remain a resource for some of the most vulnerable children in our community.
❋ Welcoming HomeProvide one family of three to four with a fresh start in life. The individuals WH serves have been through major hardships, often having escaped abusive relationships or dangerous, strife-ridden home countries. Brand new, good quality mattresses, box springs, and frames, a starter kit including many helpful home products, and a well-furnished apartment filled with carefully curated donated furniture, rugs, artwork, dishes, appliances, and more will be provided.
❋ Horizon Community SchoolThis grant will help to create the students’ outdoor classroom where they will enjoy nature, work with their hands, learn about growing flowers and vegetables, and explore how they can impact the environment.
❋ Marin VillagesThe OAC grant will provide scholarships to subsidize twelve single older women at the 75% scholarship level and two at the 50% level.
❋ Project AvaryCreated in 1999 to provide long-term support for children of incarcerated parents. Our grant will sponsor seven Marin County youth at the 2025 four-week sleep-away camp. The program immerses youth in nature while offering twenty hours of focused social-emotional skills training. In “real talk” fire circles, youth find emotional healing, learn to manage conflict, and gain tools for self-care that empowers them to overcome their unique challenges.
❋ VivalonVivalon requested support to purchase meals for the Nourish program that feeds an average of fifty clients per month who do not qualify for Meals on Wheels yet have health issues and need nutritional support. Nourish clients receive the same entrees that the Meals on Wheels clients receive. 100% of meals purchased for Nourish and Nourish 4 pets are funded by generous supporters of grants, corporate sponsors, and individual donations.
2023 - 2024 Grants
❋ Call of the SeaScholarship support for three classrooms from under-served schools to take a three-hour educational sail in San Francisco Bay. Educational content covers areas such as Marin Biology, Sustainability and Nautical Science.
❋ExtraFood
Recruiting and on-boarding of 40 new farmers market volunteers, 5 new farmers market team leaders and 20 new kitchen volunteers thus preventing excess fresh and edible food from being thrown into the landfill and the resulting production of CO2 from warming our atmosphere. Expansion of SouperFood Kitchen’s capacity.
❋ The Mountain PlayASL translation for hearing-impaired attendees at a 2024 Mountain Play performance of Kinky Boots.
❋ Center for Domestic PeaceFund In This Together therapy program for children who have witnessed domestic abuse. About 60 non-abusing parents with 100 children will participate in parent & child therapy sessions thus helping to alleviate long-term impacts to their health.
❋ Marin County BeekeepersEducation of 350-400 5th graders across Marin on the importance of the honey bee and their role in pollination. Students will have hands-on experience with hives at their schools. Bee suits will be provided.
❋ NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Health) 
Training of two Family-to-Family teachers who are Spanish-speaking, stipends for Family Support Group Facilitators for Marin City and The Canal District, and growing the Help line to include a Spanish-speaking Help Line responder.
❋ WildcareThree three-month wildlife hospital internships for veterinary students.
❋ The Curtain TheatreCostume rentals for free-to-the-public performances of the 2024 productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Old Mill Park.
❋ Marin Community ClinicsThe purchase of two filtered water fountains / bottling stations for the lobbies of the Fourth Street Dental Clinic in San Rafael.
❋ Welcoming HomeApartment furnishings for a formerly unhoused family of three including movers; brand new mattresses, box springs and bed frames; and a home starter kit.
❋ Dance ArtsDance classes, including ballet, ballroom, Latin and contemporary, for 60 youth and young adults in the Canal District of San Rafael.
❋ Marin VillagesSignificant subsidy for 16 elderly women to have a Marin Villages membership, helping to enable independent living.
❋ Project AvaryScholarships for 7 Marin County children of incarcerated parents to attend intensive four-week therapeutic and leadership development summer camp.
❋ VivalonDelivery of over 1,400 adult meals and 2,000 pet meals to at-risk seniors in Marin County.
2022 - 2023 Grants
❋ Bridging the GapA one-year pilot program providing intensive in-school and after-school literary support for two at-risk Marin City students.
❋ The Curtain TheatreAll costume rentals for nine free-to-the-public performances of 2023 productions in Old Mill Park.
❋ Halleck Creek RanchTen one-week scholarships for children’s therapeutic horse-back riding camp.
❋ The Mountain Play ASL translation for hearing-impaired attendees at one 2023 Mountain Play performance. Spring 2023 concert performance of “Into the Woods” for residents of The Redwoods.
❋ Enriching Lives Through Music
Six middle and high school scholarships for two-day overnight sailing experiences in Drake’s Bay, including helming, navigation, oceanography, meteorology, and marine science programs. One professional compound microscope, one professional stereoscope, and one hydrophone.
❋ ExtraFood
Training for 45 gleaning team volunteers and five team leaders. Outreach and training for 10 new Marin school districts. Volunteer supplies and PPE. Food recovery vehicle supplies to recover 25,000 pounds of food, provide 20,834 meals to food insecure residents, save 735,000 gallons of water, and prevent release of 0.56 tons of CO2.
❋ The Hannah ProjectFour “Family Night” leadership program events to increase Marin City parent engagement with schools, understanding of educational policy and advocacy for students, and competency to function as change agents.
❋ O'Hanlon Center for the ArtsSite preparation for 60 feet of slope for native and pollinator plant restoration.
❋ Extra FoodOne month of transitional program support for 21 Marin County survivors of domestic violence to acquire skills necessary to achieve economic independence.
❋ Friends of Mill Valley Children's GardenPlants, mulch, soil, hoses, and fencing for 600-square-foot pollinator garden.
❋ Marin Community ClinicOn-site Women’s Health Day accessible mammograms and cervical cancer screenings for 50 women in San Rafael.
❋ Performing Stars of MarinOne year of social skills and comportment programming for 30 five-to-ten year old Marin City girls, including opportunities to practice skills in restaurants and on field trips, to optimize academic, social, and economic success.
❋ Chamber Music MarinOne chamber music performance and demonstration for under-served San Rafael middle school students.
❋ Green ChangeSix six-foot-by-three-foot “Exhibitor Booths” at the 2023 Mill Valley Earth Day Environmental Festival for youth and underserved community groups promoting climate action.
❋ Marin VillagesCapacity building for expanded referral services for Marin County senior women to support their ability to remain in their homes.
❋ Project AvaryScholarships for seven Marin County children of incarcerated parents to attend intensive four-week therapeutic and leadership development summer camp.
❋ The Redwoods Arts materials and facilitator for expanded residents’ art program.
❋ Trips for KidsSix trail bikes and six helmets for use by 30 Marin County at-risk children weekly. Weekly transportation to trails for 30 Marin County at-risk children.
❋ VivalonOne year of food and kitchen supplies for at-home meal delivery service to 51 Marin County at-risk seniors.
❋ WildcareTwo three-month wildlife hospital internships for veterinary students.