San Francisco, the worldwide hub for tech innovation and entrepreneurs, has been excitingly gravitating towards an upward momentum of art and design.
2016 was an extremely exciting year for the San Francisco arts scene. Along-side the incredible existing cultural institutions, such as the De Young Museum, Legion of Honor, Pier 24, and Asian Art Museum, 2016 brought the re-openings of the SFMOMA and BMFA as well as the openings of the Minnesota Street Project and new high profile international galleries such as Gagosian and PACE. Thus, solidifying San Francisco's place on the map as one of the top destinations to view world-class art.
The area of San Francisco known as the Dogpatch, located on the waterfront and once home to large warehouse and shipyards, is fast becoming the hub for local artists, designers and makers. Since the opening of the Minnesota Street Project in March 2016, (which alone brought over 15 galleries, 30 artists studios and offices for arts related organizations and businesses) various galleries, artists and arts related organizations are quickly migrating to the half industrial and half residential neighborhood. A perfect outing for a Saturday: head down to the Dogpatch either by car or muni, start by wandering around the 13 galleries at 1275 Minnesota Street, stroll down a few blocks to 22nd Street to enjoy the quaint shops filled with local crafts and artisanal products and finish with a stop at one of the many incredible restaurants such as Piccino , 'Aina or Serpentine.
As we welcome in 2017, January is a big month for the arts in San Francisco. Along with the openings of more than 30 shows at local galleries and museums, those of us in the art world are filled with excitement for the 4th year of what many people think is San Francisco's best art fair FOG Design + Art, the inaugural presentation of UNITITLED in San Francisco as well as several ancillary art pop-up events starting January 11th taking place in various locations throughout the Bay Area.
- by Marissa Halbrecht