SF Arts Commission Gallery

Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa


Get in on the ground floor of the next SF art movement at this public showcase for local talent, with past exhibits ranging from Susan O'Malley's silk-screened words of advice from San Franciscans to rock photographer Jim Marshall's iconic shots of Jimi and Janis. Beyond gallery exhibitions, the commission also shows art in City Hall and in an empty storefront at 155 Grove St.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa attractions

1. City Hall

0.09 MILES

Rising from the ashes of the 1906 earthquake, this beaux arts landmark echoes with history. Demonstrators protesting red-scare McCarthy hearings on City…

2. Asian Art Museum

0.26 MILES

Imaginations race from subtle Chinese ink paintings to seductive Hindu temple carvings and from elegant Islamic calligraphy to cutting-edge Japanese…

3. San Francisco Main Library

0.28 MILES

A grand light well illuminates SF's favorite subjects: poetry in the Robert Frost Collection, civil rights in the Hormel LGBTQIA Center, SF music zines in…

4. Twitter Headquarters

0.29 MILES

Market St's traffic-stopping 1937 Mayan deco landmark was built to accommodate 300 wholesale furniture-design showrooms – but, a decade ago, fewer than 30…

5. Patricia's Green

0.31 MILES

The social center of hip, walkable, tree-lined Octavia Blvd is this pocket park, featuring Burning Man–inspired temporary sculpture installations, picnic…

6. United Nations Plaza

0.4 MILES

This brick-paved triangle with an often-dry fountain awkwardly commemorates the signing of the UN charter in San Francisco. Most days, UN Plaza offers…

7. Tenderloin National Forest

0.46 MILES

Urban blight is interrupted by bucolic splendor on one of the Tenderloin's grittiest blocks. Once littered with hypodermic needles and garbage, dead-end…

8. Federal Building

0.49 MILES

The groundbreaking green design of this government-office building by 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Thom Mayne means major savings in energy –…