Gray Area

10/19/2026

There’s still time to add your voice.

Now through November 4 , the free, bilingual 4th Wall app lets you view Nancy Baker Cahill's FREE in AR from San Francisco's waterfront or from anywhere in the world.

A love letter to those imprisoned and suffering without justice, write a message of solidarity for anyone held in detention in the United States and see as each message becomes part of a conversation that keeps growing.

Learn more at https://grayarea.org/exhibitions/nancy-baker-cahill-free-alcatraz 🕊️

10/17/2026

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first ever Patch Bay ⭐️
and thank you once again to Yoon Chung Han and Tori Sommerhof for kicking us off!

Patch Bay is a new weekly series to get hands-on with emerging tech and creativity as well as connect with media artists, designers, and engineers within the community.

📅 Every Wednesday, 6-9 PM
🎟️ Sliding scale, NOTAFLOF
💡 Got an idea for a session? We want to hear it! Email us at [email protected]

Next up: a hands-on workshop with Erik B. on using Figma, AI, and vibe coding to turn a story into a working interactive prototype.

See you Wednesday 🌁

10/16/2026

What happens when artists get access to compute at the scale industry runs on?

Scaling Intelligence: Modal x Gray Area AI Commissions opens Wednesday, October 28 at Gray Area. Thirteen artists debut new work built with AI and large-scale cloud computing, moving between scales that rarely meet: a satellite’s planetary view beside a microbial colony, the inside of a neural network opening onto forests and watersheds, a day of visitor conversation becoming a creature’s memory.

Rather than using AI to make more of the same, these artists treat it as a translation layer, letting intelligences of vastly different sizes and speeds sense one another.

🌐 Opening Night
Wednesday, Oct 28, 7–10 PM
RSVP: https://luma.com/5j93bc4c

🕑 Exhibition Hours
Thu, Oct 29: 2–6 PM
Fri, Oct 30: 2–8 PM
Sat, Oct 31: 1–8 PM
Sun, Nov 1: 1–8 PM
Visit: https://grayarea.org/exhibitions/scaling-intelligence-modal/

📍Gray Area, 2665 Mission St, San Francisco
Free admission, donations welcome

Featuring Cezar Mocan, Colin O’Donnell + Justine Sun Dela Cruz + Will Gardiner, Grayson Earle, Iana Chugunova, Ira Greenberg, Kristina Pulejkova, Miguel Novelo, Parag Mital, Rashed Haq, Sasha Sorokina, and Spencer Chang.

Presented in partnership with

San Francisco, October 28 – November 1, 2026 | Gray Area

10/14/2026

Meet Yoon Chung Han, the artist behind Dreaming Babies: illi. Drawn from real genetic data, each simulated baby represents a different human chromosome, inviting you to consider the hidden potential within our genetic code.

Catch the exhibition before it closes on the 19th and hear more about Han’s work at Gray Area's new weekly series, Patch Bay alongside fellow exhibiting artist Tori Sommerhof.

Stop by at tonight's event for artist talks, conversation, and happy hour, and explore Han’s exhibition, which is open during events and by appointment.

📅 Tonight, October 14
🕕 6 PM
📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater

🔗RSVP at https://luma.com/gscsaj0j

💭 Have an idea for a future Patch Bay session? We especially want to hear from people looking for a place to share bold, critical, and creative work. Send us a note at [email protected]

10/13/2026

We’re grateful to be among this year’s grantees supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) and Grants for the Arts (GFTA)!

Together, SFAC and GFTA are awarding 465 grants totaling $25.26 million to 393 artists and arts organizations across San Francisco.

This support helps us continue our exhibitions, education, and public programs, and we’re proud to be part of a citywide investment in San Francisco’s creative community ⭐️

10/10/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out last weekend to celebrate 25 years of Processing Foundation 🙏

📸 Kate Hollenbach

10/09/2026

Have you ever thought of what babies will look like in the future? 👼

This is the central question for Yoon Chung Han’s 'Dreaming Babies: illi'—an interactive, immersive solo exhibition currently on view in the Gray Area Gallery.

Han has brought to life 23 virtual babies, each a special human hybrid with a different chromosomal abnormality.

After undergoing egg retrieval and PGT, Han faced the question of what makes an embryo "normal" and whether those deemed "abnormal" should be discarded. This AI-based installation reimagines the genome not as a site of pathology, but of imagination and mythology. Each chromosome given a name, an alter ego, and a poetic superpower. By naming what society often silences, the work challenges the stigma around disability and genetic difference, dissolving the line between what is considered "normal" and "abnormal" and offering difference as a generative force for new identities, perspectives, and forms of beauty.

Exhibition visits are open during events and by appointment. Shoot us an email to let us know when you’d like to stop by.

📅 September 17 – October 19
📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater, San Francisco

🔗Learn more at https://grayarea.org/event/exhibition-yoon-chung-han-dreaming-babies/

10/06/2026

Introducing Patch Bay, a new Wednesday night series for media artists, creative technologists, and anyone looking to get hands-on with emerging technology, exchange ideas, and connect with the Bay Area creative community.

For our inaugural session on October 14, current exhibiting artists Yoon Chung Han (Yoon Chung Han | 한윤정) and Tori Sommerhof (tori) take us inside their works now on view at Gray Area.

Han will discuss Dreaming Babies: illi, her solo exhibition transforming the gallery into a speculative nursery of 23 virtual babies drawn from genetic data.

Sommerhof will share Requiem Aternum, an experimental found-media film currently screening as part of our new Machine Vitrine spotlight series.

Come by for artist talks, conversation, and happy hour 🫧

📅 Wednesday, October 14
🕕 6 PM
📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater

RSVP link in bio!

💭 Have an idea for a future Patch Bay session? We especially want to hear from people looking for a place to share bold, critical, and creative work. Send us a note at [email protected]

📹 (slide 2) wade wallerstein

10/03/2026

Next week, 𝗨𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦: 𝘈 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 & 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘶𝘮 ✨

Across two days of live music, film, conversation, and archival media, Unseen Visions brings together voices from New Age, ambient music, visionary film, and West Coast counterculture.

It's the brainchild of our friend Jacob Smith, professor at Northwestern University, made in support of his forthcoming book 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦: 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘴 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘳𝘵 (University of California Press).

Lineup:
Erik Davis
Kat Epple (of Emerald Web)
Steven Halpern
Ken Jenkins
Larkin
Robert Rich
Jacob Smith
…plus screenings of films by Jordan Belson, Dorothy Fadiman, and Rowena Pattee Kryder

Swing by for two days of ambient music, film, conversation, and more!

📅 Fri-Sat, Oct 9-10
📍Gray Area / Grand Theater, San Francisco

🎟️ Tickets: https://grayarea.org/event/unseen-visions-new-age-music-symposium/

10/01/2026

Processing is turning 25 this year! For two decades, the platform has taught generations of artists, designers, and educators how to code and the community behind it is still growing.

Join us this Saturday for an afternoon of hands-on workshops and lightning talks exploring where Processing and p5.js are headed next.

Workshops: 1 – 3 PM:
🎨 Introduction to libprocessing, led by Charlotte McElwain—learn the new experimental WebGPU renderer for Processing, exploring video, particle systems, and PBR rendering in Python. Intermediate–Advanced.

🔤 Working with [Variable] Type in p5.js, led by Ivan Zhao—learn the basics of variable typography and how to animate it on the web with p5.js, from shifting weights and widths to its roots in concrete poetry and kinetic type. All levels; some familiarity with p5.js, Processing, or JavaScript helpful.

📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater, 2665 Mission st, San Francisco
📅 Saturday, October 3

🕐 Schedule:
Workshops: 1 – 3 PM
Lightning Talks: 4 – 5:30 PM

Co-presented with TIAT.
RSVP: https://grayarea.org/event/processing-community-day/