Opened to the public in 1993, 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. Centering artists as essential to social and cultural movement, YBCA is reimagining the role an arts institution can play in the community it serves.
Opened to the public in 1993, 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. Centering artists as essential to social and cultural movement, YBCA is reimagining the role an arts institution can play in the community it serves. YBCA is located in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood, across the street from SFMOMA and the Moscone Convention Center.
Pull back the rickety door inside Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and you'll reveal a tunnel of fast-spinning motorized moths and bats. Turn a few corners to find a classic bedsheet ghost - at first it's unclear whether it's an actor or a sculpture. A few more corners and you might find a curious red-eyed, ghillie-suited woodland creature - a costumed scare actor that is definitely not a sculpture.