About CACF
A small foundation with a wide embrace
Since 2010, the Collaborative Arts & Culture Foundation has worked quietly and steadily to support artists and cultural organizations — and to encourage the collaboration that makes creative communities more than the sum of their parts.
Our mission
Why we exist
The Collaborative Arts & Culture Foundation supports organizations and encourages working together. We support projects focusing on the arts, culture, economic development, creative placemaking, and filmmaking that help communities thrive. We are headquartered in Mariposa County, the home of Yosemite National Park. Our partners are located from the Sierra foothills to the Southern California desert. Wherever we work, the approach is the same: support the people doing the work, and give them the structure, stewardship, and resources to keep doing it. CACF is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 27-2143755), tax-exempt since December 2010. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
We are headquartered in Mariposa, California — the gateway to Yosemite — and our portfolio reaches from the Sierra foothills to the Southern California desert. Wherever we work, the approach is the same: find the people doing the work, and give them the structure, stewardship, and support to keep doing it.
CACF is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 27-2143755), tax-exempt since December 2010. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
Focus areas
Where we put our energy
Arts
Direct support for working artists, ensembles, and arts organizations — from symphony orchestras to emerging makers.
Culture
Programs and partnerships that preserve and celebrate the cultural life of the communities we serve.
Economic Development
Creative-economy initiatives that turn artistic energy into local jobs, small businesses, and vibrant main streets.
Beautification
Public art, placemaking, and community beautification projects that make shared spaces worth gathering in.
Filmmaking
Support for filmmakers and film culture — production, screening, and storytelling rooted in place.
Leadership
Our board
CACF is governed by a volunteer board with deep roots in arts administration, nonprofit advancement, and community development.
Ellen Bergstone Wasil
President
Ellen brings decades of arts marketing and nonprofit leadership to CACF. She currently serves as Director of Marketing & Creative for the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau. Her background includes executive director roles with Portland Piano International, Portland Chamber Orchestra and Film Action Oregon | The Hollywood Theatre Project. Her expertise spans fundraising, board development, financial recordkeeping and public relations for cultural organizations.
Dan Wasil
Vice President
For more than 50 years, Dan has worked across nonprofit sectors including philanthropy, fine art production, and community engagement. A former Program Officer at the San Diego Community Foundation, he helped develop resources as varied as HIV/AIDS charitable responses, cultural support and medical assistance. His longstanding dedication to the nonprofit sector has contributed to Board Development, Planned Giving and building capacity for communities to manage their own resources. Dan was part of a satisfying joint effort to pass Mariposa’s first ever citizen’s initiative that is helping build a new hospital by 2030.
Additional board members and advisors will be listed here. To inquire about board service, contact us.
Want to build with us?
Whether you're an artist, an organizer, or a donor — collaboration is in our name.