A favorite line about San Francisco comes from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1957 film Vertigo. In a scene where protagonist Scottie gazes over mid-20th-century San Francisco, Gavin Elster remarks, “My how San Francisco’s changed. The things that spell San Francisco to me are disappearing fast. I should have liked to have lived here then. Color, excitement, power, freedom.” This sentiment rings true today and throughout the city’s varied history. Despite the proliferation of AI companies in the Bay Area, simplifying San Francisco as merely ‘tech-friendly and art-repellant’ doesn’t capture its complexity—at least not yet.
This year’s San Francisco Art Week exemplifies the tenacity and innovation of the local art scene. Having witnessed the city’s transformations since the 1970s, I can attest to its remarkable capacity for reinvention in response to economic and technological changes, with artists and curators adeptly navigating these shifts.
San Francisco recently saw the closure of its two esteemed art schools, the San Francisco Art Institute and California College of Art, along with several cherished galleries. Among them were Altman Siegel, Anglim Trimble, Jack Fischer, and Rena Bransten, all part of the Minnesota Street Project, and Gallery 16 in the South of Market area. These shutdowns shook the community but were offset by a surge in alternative spaces, home galleries, and nonprofits, signaling a shift away from traditional art centers.
Art + Water, an initiative by San Francisco author Dave Eggers, aims to address the pressing issue of affordable artist workspace. Slated to open at Pier 29, it promises to offer “a new kind of art space.” Similarly, the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco is adopting a nomadic approach, with Director Ali Gass noting it enables a more flexible, responsive engagement with the city’s evolving cultural landscape.
Smaller galleries like Et al. in the Mission are evolving to meet the times, transforming into multi-purpose cultural hubs. Led by Aaron Harbour and Jackie Im, the gallery is launching affordable art fairs, ATRIUM and Skylight Above, during SF Art Week at the Minnesota Street Project. In discussing AI’s impact, artist Trevor Paglen reflects on the profound shifts in our relationship with images, viewing this era as an exhilarating time for artistic exploration.
