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YBCA to open acclaimed video installation, present immersive dance performance, and host a week of free programs during 2026 San Francisco Art Week
The multidisciplinary lineup invites the Bay Area to experience contemporary art that is moving, challenging, and deeply relevant
16 December 2025 – San Francisco, CA: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) will open its doors free to the public, January 17-25, 2026 from 11am – 5pm, presenting a powerful slate of exhibitions, performances, artist conversations, and community programs during San Francisco Art Week. Together these experiences invite audiences to encounter contemporary art that reflects the pressures, hopes, and cultural complexities shaping life in the Bay Area today.
YBCA’s SF Art Week participation reflects the institution’s commitment to supporting artists whose work speaks directly to the needs and complexities of the present moment. From the U.S. premiere of P. Staff’s The Prince of Homburg, to intergenerational discussions on the evolution of Bay Area artistic practice, to civic activation supporting immigrant communities, the week underscores the power of creative expression in helping us understand and reshape the world we inhabit.
“At YBCA, we champion artists whose practices expand our sense of possibility and deepen our collective imagination,” said Mari Robles, CEO of YBCA. “San Francisco Art Week is a chance to celebrate the extraordinary creativity of our region and to uplift the voices shaping our cultural and emotional landscape. We’re thrilled to welcome our community into a week of experiences that spark connection, reflection and joy, and that resonate far beyond our city.”
The week begins on Saturday, January 17, with the U.S. premiere of The Prince of Homburg, a major solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist P. Staff, curated by Jeanne Gerrity, opening to the public at 11am. The exhibition features a 23-minute video installation and sculptural works examining freedom, state control, and the pressures placed on queer and trans bodies today.
Also on view throughout San Francisco Art Week is Bay Area Then, a major group exhibition featuring work by 21 artists who helped shape a new creative legacy for the Bay Area in the 1990s. With monumental wall installations, stunning photographic portraiture, and a labyrinthine passage that culminates in an outdoor stage, the exhibition offers artists space to speak with urgency, conviction and clarity. As part of the exhibition, YBCA will present the Bay Area Then & Now Poetry Reading at 12pm on Saturday, featuring poets Kevin Dublin, Magick Altman, and Tongo Eisen-Martin, whose work reflects the creative and emotional landscapes of the region.
On Wednesday, January 21 from 2pm –4pm, YBCA will host a free, all-ages art workshop, Cityscape Diorama, inviting participants to build imaginative dioramas inspired by their own cities or neighborhoods. Drawing from the shapes, textures, and everyday landmarks that make a place feel meaningful, the workshop encourages visitors to reflect on the environments they call home. The program is inspired by artist Margaret Kilgallen’s work in YBCA’s Bay Area Then exhibition and offers an accessible entry point into the creative process.
The momentum builds on Friday, January 23, beginning with Yerba Buena Museums Day from 10am–11:30am, featuring early gallery access and complimentary coffee and pastries. Also at 10am, YBCA will host a special tour of The Prince of Homburg with Gerrity and P. Staff.
That evening, YBCA will host a Prince of Homburg Opening Celebration from 5pm–7pm (RSVP required), followed by the ticketed opening night performance of Liss Fain Dance’s End Point | Open Time at 7:30pm, making the debut of the immersive installation that runs throughout the weekend. All Liss Fain Dance performances are paid, ticketed events, with additional shows on Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25.
On Saturday, January 24 at 12pm, YBCA will present a public conversation featuring P. Staff, UC Berkeley professor Mel Y. Chen, and art historian Mara Hassan, moderated by Gerrity. A tour of the exhibition with P. Staff and Jeanne Gerrity at 1 PM will follow, offering deeper insight into the exhibition.
The week concludes on Sunday, January 25 with a civic activation by the Sanctuary City Project, presented in collaboration with Refugee and Immigrant Transitions (RIT). From 12pm–4pm, visitors are invited to participate in the design, printing, and sale of 100 limited-edition tote bags emblazoned with the message “I AM AN IMMIGRANT.” Proceeds will support RIT’s free education, family engagement, and community leadership programs for individuals who have sought refuge from war, violence, persecution, or economic hardship. This activation extends Sanctuary City Project’s longstanding commitment to use art as a catalyst for dialogue and social justice, transforming a simple object into a powerful expression of identity, solidarity, and shared humanity. A final ticketed performance of Liss Fain Dance at 2 PM closes the week.
“Artists help us see and understand the world with clarity and courage,” said Dorothy Davila, Chief of Curatorial Initiatives at YBCA. “The works featured throughout San Francisco Art Week demonstrate how creativity becomes a form of resilience and a tool for reimagining what is possible. These artists invite us to consider not only how we live now, but how we might build more connected and equitable futures together.”
Across the nine days, YBCA becomes a place where inquiry, dialogue, and collective imagination take center stage. Through these exhibitions, performances, and civic activations, YBCA invites the Bay Area to reflect on what it means to belong, to create, and to shape the soul of a changing region.
YBCA programs are made possible in part by Blue Shield of California, the City and County of San Francisco, The Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Svane Family Foundation, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, James R. Lilienthal Trust, California Arts Council, Yerba Buena Partnership, Meridee Moore, Beard Family Foundation, Schwab Charitable Fund, Gaia Fund, David and Carla Crane Foundation, Andrew Skillman and Lydia Choy Charitable Fund, Amy and Hannah Eliot, Maria Kim, Tides Foundation, Wayee Chu and Ethan Beard, Amanda Minami, Klau Family Fund, Peter Rigano and Cody Hicks, Harvey and Leslie Wagner Foundation, Robert and Junko Kenmotsu, The San Francisco Foundation, The Ron Conway Family, and YBCA Members.
For more information visit www.ybca.org.
About YBCA:
Opened to the public in 1993, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) was founded as the cultural anchor of San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens neighborhood. Our work spans the realms of contemporary art, performance, film, civic engagement, and public life. By centering artists as essential to social and cultural movement, YBCA is reimagining the role an arts institution can play in the communities it serves. For more information, visit ybca.org.
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