On the first Tuesday of each month, SOMArts Cultural Center presents The News, featuring new, queer work by Bay Area artists. The News is a monthly cabaret evening that spotlights 10-minute or less performance pieces, experiments, and works in progress by pre-selected solo artists, groups, or troupes. On Tuesday, November 1, The News is guest-hosted by Amanda and Natalia Vigil, and promises a night of interdisciplinary and experimental queer performance by Bay Area artists. This special night is themed Legacy, in [...]

SOMArts is proud to partner with Global Street Dance Masquerade artistic director Rashad Pridgen to present The Black Lives Masquerade on Saturday, February 25. Beginning at Zaccho Dance Theatre (1777 Yosemite Ave, San Francisco) at 3:00 pm, this site-specific performance will travel through the Bayview neighborhood to remember and honor San Franciscans who have been lost to police brutality and injustice. The performance procession will finish at the Bayview Opera House (4705 3rd St) with a community celebration and reception. The Black [...]

On the first Tuesday of each month, SOMArts Cultural Center presents The News, featuring new, queer work by Bay Area artists. The News is a monthly cabaret evening that spotlights 10-minute or less performance pieces, experiments, and works in progress by pre-selected solo artists, groups, or troupes. On Tuesday, March 7, Star Amerasu presents “The Girls”, a night showcasing the amazing works of transfemmes of color in our community. This version of the “The News will bring [...]

SOMArts is proud to partner with the Global Street Dance Masquerade and Artistic Director Rashad Pridgen to present: The Black Lives Masquerade & The Elevation of Black Men on East 14th in Oakland This creative direct action is the closing installment of The Global Street Dance Masquerade’s partnership with SOMArts. The Black Lives Masquerade returns to Oakland accompanied by local black male dancers, artist, activists and leaders to creatively reflect on manhood, survival and perseverance as a creative response to The [...]

Reorienting the Imaginaries presents a controversial study of the racialized and gendered form, insomuch that understanding the complexities of confronting one’s own (mis)representations becomes catalysts for subversion and creation of autonomous futures.   Take part in an intimate community dinner and discussion examining the impact of culture and identity misrepresentation on food, art, clothing, and health. Food will be provided by Oakland Bloom, whose mission is “to provide resources for aspiring food business owners from the [...]

SOMArts is proud to partner with La Pocha Nostra performance company to produce a 10-day workshop culminating in an evening of performance on Saturday, August 4, 8–10pm. The 10-day interdisciplinary workshop hosted at SOMArts and facilitated by members of the legendary La Pocha Nostra performance group will explore the concept of the “city in ruins” and artist-driven responses to the predatory politics of urban land-use. Workshop participants were chosen through an open call process and will include local and [...]

¡Demasiado! Too much glamour. Too much fun. Too much art. Too much hope for the future. On Saturday, April 14, SOMArts will present ¡Demasiado! — an immersive art party, community meal and dance party to support the organization at the intersection of art and social justice since 1979. Featuring the artists and culture-bearers who are standing up for creative resistance in the Bay Area and honoring pioneering Chicano artist and curator René Yañez, the event will bring [...]

SOMArts is proud to present Something (you can’t see, on the other side, of a wall from this side) casts a shadow, a multi-disciplinary exhibition curated by Juana Berrío exploring the politics of space in the urban landscape. Opening with a free public reception on Saturday, July 14, 6:00–9:00 pm, the exhibition includes a selection of sculptures, videos, photographs, graphic scores, and paintings by a multi-generational group of artists from around the world. On Thursday, July 26 from 6:00–8:00 [...]

Opening with a reception and awards ceremony Thursday, August 16, 6:30–9pm, awards at 7:00pm, The San Francisco Foundation & SOMArts Annual Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition surveys new work from the 14 recipients of the competitive Jack K and Gertrude Murphy Award and the Edwin Anthony and Adalaine Boudreaux Cadogan Scholarships. The awards are designed to further the development of Bay Area MFA students and foster the exploration of their artistic potential in hybrid practice, installation, mixed media, [...]

Whether you fancy yourself an artist or have two left thumbs when it comes to creative production, you can try something new alongside some of the Bay Area’s most talented emerging artists. Join six exhibiting artists in The San Francisco Foundation & SOMArts Annual Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition for a free-to-attend afternoon of artist-led creative workshops with snacks courtesy of La Cocina Culinary Incubator from 1–4pm on Saturday, August 18. Regardless of your skill level, [...]

**TICKETS FOR THE EXHIBITION UNVEILING IS SOLD OUT** Limited tickets will be available at the door and we encourage guests to arrive early to increase chances of entry. Walk up entries will be based on building capacity, so please prepare for long lines and wait times.  Now in its 19th year, SOMArts’ Día de Los Muertos exhibition is one of the most internationally diverse Day of the Dead celebrations in the United States. Over the years, [...]

TechnoTichuacan combines live DJing and Video Art remixing into a living, digital mural exploring the intersectional story of Latinx contemporary life. This performance/video exhibition examines border politics, de-colonialism, queer sex, Afro Latinx visibility, pop culture, trans identity, and spirituality. These videos, a mix of original creations and curated works, will be synced with techno/cumbia/quebradita/salsa music remixes that aim to respond to and support the digital visuals. Produced by Rob Fatal and DJ Bianca Oblivion, TechnoTihuacan uses DJing, mixing, [...]

Now in its 19th year, SOMArts’ Día de Los Muertos exhibition is one of the most internationally diverse Day of the Dead celebrations in the United States. Over the years, this group exhibition has brought together a wide variety of perspectives to honor, remember, and celebrate the dead. Since its inception, Día de Los Muertos at SOMArts has offered a space for collective mourning, healing, and refusing to forget the people and places who have been [...]

Reorienting the Imaginaries presents a controversial study of the racialized and gendered form, insomuch that understanding the complexities of confronting one’s own (mis)representations becomes catalysts for subversion and creation of autonomous futures. This multidisciplinary exhibit brings together artists of color who are connected by complex histories, identity and power to disrupt the unwarranted representations imposed upon them by the Western gaze. We define the colonial imaginary as a romanticism of exotic places and people that through [...]

Reorienting the Imaginaries presents a controversial study of the racialized and gendered form, insomuch that understanding the complexities of confronting one’s own (mis)representations becomes catalysts for subversion and creation of autonomous futures. As part of the exhibitions programming, the Makers' Market moves beyond representational identity politics to highlight makers and organizers in a variety of industries. Participating vendors are taking control of their own means of production and redefining the business model that is rooted in [...]

Reorienting the Imaginaries presents a controversial study of the racialized and gendered form, insomuch that understanding the complexities of confronting one’s own (mis)representations becomes catalysts for subversion and creation of autonomous futures. Artist Shirin Towfiq will be facilitating a free community banner making workshop open for all ages. Participants can write or sew messages of resistance on their shirts, wear them, and then sew the shirts to one another’s creating a banner. This banner of sewn [...]

On Saturday, June 8, 2019 join SOMArts for RUBY: A Cabaret and Dance Party Extravaganza Celebrating 40 years of SOMArts an immersive art party, community meal and dance party to support the organization at the intersection of art and social justice. Honoring legendary performer and director Rhodessa Jones, this celebration features jaw-dropping cabaret performances and musical sets by Chulita Vinyl Club, and Rocky Rivera! The 40th anniversary is represented by the bold ruby gemstone, which is said to glow crimson due [...]

SOMArts is proud to present Something (you can’t see, on the other side, of a wall from this side) casts a shadow, a multi-disciplinary exhibition curated by Juana Berrío exploring the politics of space in the urban landscape. Opening with a free public reception on Saturday, July 14, 6:00–9:00 pm, the exhibition includes a selection of sculptures, videos, photographs, graphic scores, and paintings by a multi-generational group of artists from around the world. The opening reception will feature [...]

Doors open at 7:00pm Performances start at 7:30-10:30pm Rebooting the Future: Multimedia & Performance Arts Festival, is a free, all ages two day festival curated by Sian Morson and Kolmel W. Love.  As part of SOMArt's 40th-anniversary program, the festival brings together Bay Area artists who leverage technology and new media in order to access the imagination, Futurity, and the Divine. Rebooting the Future kicks off with a total space activation and visual arts opening reception on Friday, August [...]