In response to local art school closures and shrinking support for emerging artists, nonprofits are developing alternative education programs and grassroots coalitions to help artists connect, collaborate, and sustain their work.
The Tenderloin-based TnT Art Lab has launched Meet the Moment, a coalition of Bay Area artists, museums, galleries, and cultural organizations that will publish a monthly guide to exhibitions, performances, and programs addressing current civic, cultural, and political issues, as SF Examiner reports. The group is also putting on three nights of video art exhibitions in Mid-Market and Yerba Buena at the end of October.
According to the Chronicle, Bradley McCallum, who founded TnT Art Lab through his nonprofit Conjunction Arts, has transformed the space at Turk and Taylor streets into a Tenderloin hub for collaborative art, community programming, exhibitions, and artist residencies. The 2,000-square-foot space reportedly includes studios, a media library, a flexible gallery, and a kitchen intended to encourage people to gather and connect.
McCallum told the Chronicle last year that he began pursuing the project after seeing the challenges facing people living on and around Sixth Street during San Francisco’s pandemic recovery. He said he wants artists to engage directly with those conditions through social art practice, which emphasizes collaboration and community impact.
Per the Examiner, Meet the Moment expands that community-focused approach by connecting organizations across the region and directing audiences toward work they might otherwise miss. Its first monthly guide includes exhibitions at the Museum of Craft and Design, the San Francisco Arts Commission Main Gallery, and Haines Gallery, among others.
The coalition is also accepting applications through November 16 for its inaugural Call for Big Ideas. Selected proposals will receive seed funding and development support, with projects presented at a forum during San Francisco Art Week in January. The resulting projects are expected to debut in 2028. Those interested in contributing to the project can donate to the nonprofit's seed funding campaign.
“Social practice is about working with communities, not just showing art to them, and no single organization can do that alone right now,” McCallum said, speaking to the Examiner.
The coalition comes as Bay Area artists and nonprofits develop alternatives to traditional arts education amid the loss of established institutions, including the SF Art Institute, which is being replaced by the unaccredited, billionaire-funded California Academy of Studio Arts and the California College of the Arts, with Vanderbilt University’s new San Francisco campus taking over its former site following a big-tech buyout.
The Examiner reported last month that artists with ties to the two shuttered art schools are also developing smaller-scale alternatives. Present Company, an experimental arts education program created by Lindsey White and Jon Rubin, brought 11 Bay Area artists together for a free program at the Headlands Center for the Arts in West Marin, with participants taking part in collaborative projects, group dinners, hikes, and other activities.
“Being inside a school falling apart can be pretty traumatizing, but I still really believe in arts education,” White said of her experience at SFAI, speaking to the Examiner. She described Present Company as an opportunity to move beyond that institutional collapse while continuing to develop new ways for artists to learn and work together.
Southern Exposure, a longtime Mission District arts nonprofit, is also developing two education programs. Its Emerging Curator’s Lab will provide two years of professional development and mentorship, while its Night School program will help artists develop teaching skills and curricula through a free 12-week program that includes a stipend.
Per the Examiner, the Emerging Curator’s Lab is intended to expand access to curatorial training for people from diverse backgrounds. Night School will pair one teaching artist with six emerging artists, who will develop lesson plans and create curricula for Southern Exposure’s youth education program and San Francisco Unified School District.
Another new project scheduled to open this fall is Art + Water, a planned 100,000-square-foot arts space at Pier 29 founded by local writer Dave Eggers and Bay Area artist and educator JD Beltran, as previously reported. The project is using a tuition-free apprenticeship model designed to help artists establish and maintain their practices in San Francisco.
Art + Water reportedly plans to host 30 local artists at a time, including 10 established artists and 20 emerging artists selected through an application process. All participants will receive free studio space for a year, with established artists mentoring newer artists through daily instruction, shared workspaces, and hands-on collaboration.
“Economically accessible, demystifying, and welcoming — like, ‘Here, this is how we do this. You can do it, too,’” Eggers said of his vision for the project.
These grassroots projects are emerging as San Francisco’s arts scene faces another debate over the influence of wealthy donors. The new Market Street Arts & Theater District is receiving $500,000 from downtown business and civic leaders, including crypto billionaire Chris Larsen.
Larsen and Gap heirs Bob and Randi Fisher also backed this year’s Downtown First Thursday series with a $2 million investment, along with additional funds from other local billionaires.
Related: Dave Eggers to Open 100,000 Square Foot Art and Community Space at Pier 29 This Fall
