Yerba Buena Center for the Arts facts for kids
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Exterior of the YBCA Theater in 2016
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| Established | 1993 |
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| Location | 701 Mission Street San Francisco, California 94103 |
| Type | Contemporary art museum and live event venue |
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a fun and exciting place in San Francisco, California, USA. It's a center for many different kinds of modern art. YBCA is located in Yerba Buena Gardens. It shows off visual art, live performances, and films. The center celebrates artists from the local area, across the country, and around the world. It also highlights the many different communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. YBCA has programs all year long in two special buildings. One building, with galleries and a forum, was designed by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. The other building, a theater, was designed by American architects James Stewart Polshek and Todd Schliemann.
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History of YBCA
The idea for the YBCA museum came from a plan by mayor George Moscone. He worked with builders to set aside land and money for cultural places. These places included museums, art shows, and theaters. This was part of a big project to rebuild the South of Market, San Francisco area. The YBCA museum first opened its doors in 1993.
YBCA's Community Focus
YBCA creates a special art show every three years called Bay Area Now. This show features art from Northern California.
One art expert, Sarah Hotchkiss, said that it's rare for local artists to get big attention from museums while they are still alive. Because of this, Bay Area Now has become a very important event for the art community.
In 2014, YBCA started a list called the YBCA 100. This list honors a wide variety of artists, activists, and leaders. It celebrates people and groups from all over the country who are creative and inspiring.
In March 2021, YBCA worked with other San Francisco groups to start a special program. This program gave $1,000 a month to 130 artists for six months. These artists had incomes below a certain level. This helped artists during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Similar programs were also started in other cities like Stockton and Oakland.
YBCA and Artist Voices
In 2024, the YBCA galleries were closed for about a month. This happened after some artists in the Bay Area 9 exhibit changed their artworks. They added messages about freedom and peace. These messages were related to the conflict in the Middle East.
The artists asked the museum to support artists' freedom to express their views. Before this, the museum had stopped an artist from showing a "Free Palestine" message. They also changed a mural that used colors of the Palestinian flag. Many current and former museum workers supported the artists. The interim CEO, Sara Fenske Bahat, left her job because of the situation. A local supervisor, Hillary Ronen, asked for a meeting to discuss why the museum was still closed. Later, the art show reopened with the artists' changes still there, along with new signs explaining the situation.
Activities at YBCA
YBCA offers many different types of art and events. It's a place where you can see and hear all sorts of creative works.
Music at YBCA
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts welcomes many kinds of music. It's a stage for musicians and singers from the Bay Area. It also shares music from all over the world. YBCA has hosted solo performances and special music projects. For example, it held a tribute to composer Elliott Carter in 2008. It also hosted the Long Now Foundation in 2010. These musical events often aim to create positive social change. They do this by teaching about other cultures or by bringing people together for a shared goal. While there aren't many music-only shows each month, music is often part of other performances, like dance or theater.
Fine Arts at YBCA
YBCA is also a museum that shows art, but it doesn't collect its own art pieces. The art shows at YBCA celebrate both local and global art. For example, in 2008, an art group called Royal Art Lodge showed their unique, dream-like artworks. They used simple drawings and other cool techniques to make people think. YBCA not only has specific art shows but also works with artists to create special feelings in its spaces. For instance, another artist group, Instant Coffee, designed a lounge room where visitors could relax and listen to music. Also, Space 1026 created a mural for YBCA that shows different social and physical ideas.
Some artists have had their own shows at YBCA. These include Tania Bruguera's Talking to Power and Damon Rich and Jae Shin's Space Brainz in 2017.
Dance at YBCA
Dance at YBCA includes many styles from different cultures. In October 2008, Israeli choreographers Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak presented their show "Shaker." It mixed ballet, modern dance, mime, and acrobatics. YBCA also presents more classic forms of dance, like ballet. Alonzo King brought his company, LINES Ballet, to YBCA in November 2004. Their performance used African American field recordings with different music, stories, and films playing in the background.
Film and Video at YBCA
YBCA shows all kinds of movies and videos. This includes documentaries about many topics, art-house movies, and films from other countries. For example, in the summer of 2009, it showed documentaries about design. It also presented unusual movie topics, like a show about 1970s sports films. The regular film program stopped in 2018.
Live Events at YBCA
The center has been a place for big companies to launch new products. For example, Apple Inc. has launched its iPods and the iPad here.
In 2019, YBCA hosted the How I Built This Summit with Guy Raz. This event brought together people who had built successful businesses.
See also
In Spanish: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts para niños
