SOMArts 2020–2021 Season Mailer

→ Exhibitions Closes Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Día de Los Muertos 2020: Living Legacies → Exhibitions Opens Saturday, October 10, 2020

JULY

Bay Area Deaf Arts

Mother’s Bosom

→ Exhibitions Opens Friday, January 15, 2021

→ Exhibitions Opens Friday, July 16, 2021

AUGUST

FEBRUARY

→ Virtual Drag Show Thursday, October 22, 2020

Mother’s Bosom

Bay Area Deaf Arts

7 – 9 pm

→ Exhibitions Closes Tuesday, August 24, 2021

→ Exhibitions Closes Friday, February 23, 2021

NOVEMBER Día de Los Muertos 2020: Living Legacies → Exhibitions Closes

The Black Woman is God

JULY

Mother’s Bosom

CARAVANA: Mobilizing Central American Art (1984 – Present)

Exhibition opens

→ Exhibitions Opens Friday, March 12, 2021

HIGHLIGHTS A GREETING FROM SOMArts’ CREATIVE & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MARIA JENSON 2020 has sparked a global call for social and racial justice as we hold institutions accountable to the ways they have perpetrated structural racism. As we come together in both solidarity and action, we have witnessed the importance of art in revolutionary times– it reminds us that our stories, memories, and lived realities hold power. I am honored to announce another season of groundbreaking exhibitions and programs rooted in creative expression, civic engagement, activism, and self determination.

Take your support of SOMArts to the next level by making a tax deductible donation. Your generous contribution supports artists and curators who thrive on the intersection of arts and social justice. Learn more by visiting somarts.org/donate.

Artist Collaborations: Working with artists who are historically underrepresented in contemporary art, SOMArts provides a platform for socially relevant and experimental art that dares to envision a new world.

To learn even more about free opportunities to engage with exhibiting artists and their work, follow @somarts or sign up to receive our monthly email announcements at somarts.org/join.

Artist centered: SOMArts is a creative incubator for over 1,200 visual and performing artists to create groundbreaking and risk-taking works annually.

SOMArts is located within two blocks of Muni lines 12, 19, 27 and 47. Street parking is available (and usually plentiful after 6 pm). Flat rate for parking is accessible at Brannan & 8th Street.

As we navigate this upcoming season with empathy and care, we will continue providing opportunities for artists and curators who have historically been denied access to arts institutions. It is no longer a field closed off to a privileged few, but a necessary tool for social transformation, equity, and connection.

Community forward: More than 100 Bay Area nonprofits and community groups rely on SOMArts’ space and support to raise vital funds, mobilize new audiences and achieve their creative visions through our Rental Program.

934 Brannan Street (between 8th & 9th) San Francisco, CA 94103

Locally loved: More than 30,000 people visit SOMArts for free and low-cost exhibitions, classes, performances and events every year. No one is turned away for lack of funds at events SOMArts produces.

Photo by Kevan Jenson

Our 2020–2021 Curatorial Residencies affirm the importance of cultural power, memory, and solidarity through three multidisciplinary exhibitions: Bay Area Deaf Arts , CARAVANA: Mobilizing Central American Art (1984–Present), and Mother’s Bosom. Día de Los Muertos 2020 features traditional and conceptual alters, and The Annual Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition gives us a glimpse into the future of contemporary art.

Friday, July 24

From artists and cultural workers to students, arts lovers and activists—the intersection of activity at 934 Brannan Street offers a uniquely Bay Area take on what it means to create.

With the support from the San Francisco Foundation and the San Francisco Arts Commission, SOMArts has become an oasis for artists, advocates, and arts lovers to imagine solutions to regional and global issues. Through experimental programming, artist-led workshops, and meaningful connection during this pivotal moment in our collective history.

415.863.1414 info@somarts.org facebook.com/somarts #somarts @somarts

Exhibition closes Tuesday, August 24

MARCH

→ Exhibitions Opens Friday, November 6, 2020

→ → → → →

Mother’s Bosom

Above: RUBY Photobooth, 2019. Front Cover: Per Sia, photo by Robbie Sweeney

Friday, November 6, 2020

AUGUST

2021

2020

7 – 8 pm

JANUARY

Exhibition closes Tuesday, April 20

2017 CALENDAR

Thursday, October 1, 2020 → Artists Presentations & Digital Catalogue Launch

CARAVANA: Mobilizing Central American Art (1984–Present)

SOMArts exhibitions & public programming receive critical SOMArts exhibitions & public programming receive critical funding from the San Francisco ArtsSan Commission, TheArts San Francisco Foundation & funding from the Francisco Commission, The San individual donors.

SOMArts & is individual sponsored indonors. part by a grant from Grants Francisco Foundation for the Arts.

→ Exhibitions Closes Saturday, December 12, 2020

2020 WINTER/SPRING

→ Website Launch

SEASON CALENDAR

CARAVANA: Mobilizing Central American Art (1984 – Present)

somarts.org www.somarts.org

The Black Woman is God

Saturday Saturday 12-5pm 12-5pm

The Annual Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition

APRIL

Tuesday-Friday 12-7pm

APRIL

Visitors always welcome Gallery Hours Visitors always welcome Tuesday-Friday 12-7pm Gallery Hours

DECEMBER

934 Brannan Street | San Francisco, CA 94103 934 Brannan Street | San Francisco, CA 94103

OCTOBER

SOMArts Cultural Center leverages the power of art as a tool for social change through multi-disciplinary events and exhibitions. Equipping artists with the space, mentorship and support they need to shift perspectives and innovate solutions to the Bay Area’s most pressing social concerns, SOMArts provides access to arts and culture for collective liberation and self-determination.

CALENDAR

THE BLACK WOMAN IS GOD Curated by Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green

The Black Woman is God is a multidisciplinary exhibition that celebrates the Black female presence as the highest spiritual form. In previous years, more than 50 intergenerational artists working in sculpture, painting, new media, and photography create new myths to challenge Eurocentric notions of God. Cocurators Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green envision The Black Woman is God as a movement-building platform that explores the intersections of race and gender, dismantling racist and patriarchal notions that devalue Black women’s contributions to society. This space reveals a community of Black women artists, paying homage to their complex creative practices that have influenced the world but are often overlooked because of their race, class, and gender. The Black Woman is God subverts our notions of God as a spiritual and revolutionary act.

Photo by Robbie Sweeny, Rebooting the Future: Multimedia and Performance Arts Festival , 2019

SOMArts CURATORIAL RESIDENCY EXHIBITIONS

Artists and curators must have meaningful opportunities to interrogate social issues and put inquiry into praxis.

Creative investigation thrives through SOMArts Curatorial Residency program, amplifying the voices of Bay Area artists and engaging community members through innovative programs. SOMArts’ Main Gallery provides the ideal canvas for three bold, artist-led exhibitions that reach thousands each year. Awarded through an annual open submission process, SOMArts Curatorial Residency recipients receive professional development and mentorship to foster the sustainability of their careers as working artists in the Bay Area.

This season’s exhibitions affirm the importance of cultural power, memory, and solidarity, inviting us to participate in global movements that are rooted in justice and liberation.

→ Gallery Hours Wednesday – Sunday Free admission to the gallery with timed ticketing entry. Get your timed tickets today: tbwigsomarts.eventbrite.com

L to R: Duygu Gün and Bengu Gün

MOTHER’S BOSOM Curated by Duygu Gün and Bengu Gün

Due to COVID-19 city, state, and federal protocols, dates are subject to change, programs may become virtual events, and timed ticketing may be required to prioritize the safety of our staff, partners, and creative community.

For more information, visit somarts.org/welcomeback

Mother’s Bosom generates conversations on identity and gender roles while exploring how lullabies are used as transmitters of cultural memory. This exhibition highlights how cultural norms are formed and induced within a society and how cultural identity is cemented through birth.

→ Exhibition Friday, November 6 – Saturday, December 12, 2020 Virtual / Public programs to be announced → Gallery Hours Wednesday – Sunday $10 suggested donation Get your timed tickets today: tbwigsomarts.eventbrite.com

→ Exhibition Friday, July 16 – Tuesday, August 24, 2021 Virtual / Public programs to be announced

Photo by Nye’ Lyn Tho, The Black Woman is God, 2017

BAY AREA DEAF ARTS

SOMArts’ ANNUAL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS EXHIBITION

Curated by Antoine Hunter

Curated by Rio Yañez and Carolina Quintanilla

Bay Area Deaf Arts celebrate and center the art forms and cultural expression historically rooted in the Deaf community, raising Deaf awareness in non-Deaf populations, and inviting collaboration between Hearing and Deaf artists. Curated by renowned performer and activist Antoine Hunter, this exhibition asks us: Where are the voices of Deaf and Deaf people of color? What truths are we willing to listen to?

SOMArts’ annual Día de Los Muertos exhibition, beginning in midOctober and concluding around the time of the holiday itself, is a longstanding and beloved San Francisco tradition. Originated by visionary community artist and activist René Yañez, this exhibition honors René’s legacy as his son and curator Rio Yañez continues to illuminate the connection between the personal and the political through Day of the Dead.

→ Exhibition Friday, January 15 – Tuesday, February 23, 2021 Virtual / Public programs to be announced

L to R: Josué Rojas, Fátima Ramírez, and Mauricio Ramírez. Photo by Abner Morales

CARAVANA: MOBILIZING CENTRAL AMERICAN ART (1984–PRESENT)

Living Legacies: Día de Los Muertos 2020 is a call to action for our responsibility to future generations. It is a call to use the strengths and lessons of our ancestors in this history we’re living through. By honoring those we have lost with altars and installations we address our current political climate, the presidential election, collectively mourning Black lives, and recognize the many lives lost to the pandemic. This year’s Dia de los Muertos exhibit at SOMArts stands in direct reflection of the collective trauma and urgency of the moment we are in. Living Legacies is dedicated to all the lives we should not have lost.

→ Gallery Hours Wednesday – Sunday $10 suggested donation Get your timed tickets today: livinglegaciessomarts.eventbrite.com Due to COVID-19 city, state, and federal protocols, dates are subject to change, programs may become virtual events, and timed ticketing may be required to prioritize the safety of our staff, partners, and creative community.

For more information, visit somarts.org/welcomeback

Learn more about Living Legacies: Día de Los Muertos 2020: somarts.org/events/livinglegacies

Curated by Fátima Ramírez, Josué Rojas, and Mauricio Ramírez

A multidisciplinary intergenerational exhibit, CARAVANA: Mobilizing Central American Art (1984–Present ) invites Central American and other artists from across the country to explore the impact of mass migration, family separation, and San Francisco’s legacy of political action and solidarity with Central America.

Antonine Hunter, photo by RJ Muna

Antoine Hunter, photo by RJ Muna

→ Exhibition Friday, March 12 – Tuesday, April 20, 2021 Virtual / Public programs to be announced

→ Exhibition Saturday, October 10 – Friday, November 6, 2020 → Amor Eterno: Día de Los Muertos Drag Show Thursday, October 22, 2020, 7–9pm $10 suggested donation To stream: twitch.tv/somarts For new events & updates, visit somarts.org Image by Rio Yañez