Making a Scene: 50 Years of Alternative Bay Area Spaces

Making a Scene: 50 Years of Alternative Bay Area Spaces, which received critical support from the National Endowment of the Arts, spotlights a rich history of Bay Area artist-run, independent and alternative spaces, as well as the pioneers and contemporary trailblazers of social justice who utilized these spaces as a catalyst and megaphone. Archival material from more than 20 individuals and spaces, and art and installations by more than 30 current and historic Bay Area artists, unite the featured spaces’ disparate, yet overlapping and contingent histories of cultural engagement, community development and social justice.

The opening reception features a 7-monitor “Pollination Pod,” a mobile museum of alternative sexual identity, and a special performance by Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens.

For more information about the exhibit and the reception, visit somarts.org/makingasceneopens.