Gray Area

Gray Area is nonprofit organization applying art + technology for social + civic impact through education, incubation, + public events at the Grand Theater

Gray Area is nonprofit organization applying art + technology for social and civic impact through education, incubation, and public events. We operate the historic Grand Theater (800 person venue) thanks to our fabulous community of supporters.

09/03/2026

Every electronic genre came from someone misusing a machine.

That idea is at the center of 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 & 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬: 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝟏𝟐, a new four-week intensive with musician, producer, and longtime Caribou touring member Ryan Smith.

The course looks at electronic music production as both a technical and experimental practice: learning how tools are designed to work, then exploring what becomes possible when you push against those conventions.

Across four weeks, you’ll build a complete track while moving through drums, sampling, synthesis, generative composition, arrangement, mixing, and mastering.

🥁 Program drums and chop samples, then pull them apart through probability, granular processing, reversing, glitch, and resampling.

🎛️ Build sounds from scratch with Drift, write basslines and chords, and experiment with modulation, feedback, unstable patches, and Max for Live.

🔀 Turn loops into evolving compositions using MIDI generators, Follow Actions, automation, non-linear arrangement, and dub-inspired mixing techniques.

🔊 Finish and export a complete track while exploring what happens when mastering, resampling, and effects become creative tools in themselves.

Along the way, Ryan will draw connections across musique concrète, jungle and drum and bass, acid, 90s IDM, ambient, and dub, looking at how experimentation with technology has repeatedly opened up new forms of electronic music.

Ryan brings a wide-ranging practice to the course: alongside touring with Caribou, he produces techno as Taraval, creates modular ambient music with Bathing, and collaborates with Jeremy Greenspan of Junior Boys on experimental electronic music and the label Geej.

𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 & 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬: 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝟏𝟐
🗓️ September 15 – October 6
🕕 Tuesdays, 6–9 PM
📍 In-Person at Gray Area, SF

💸 $480 | Scholarships available
🌟 For intermediate/beginner producers with some Ableton, DAW, or hardware experience

🔗 Space limited ~ learn more + enroll at https://grayarea.org/course/machines-ideas-ableton-live-12/

09/02/2026

𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐤𝐚 𝐞𝐜𝐝𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬.𝐞𝐱𝐩 👋

Sieanele is a Bay Area installation artist and experience designer working across projection, light, textiles, and responsive environments. This fall, she’s teaching 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎𝟏: 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, a new four-week intensive at Gray Area.

Her practice explores how environments can shape perception, connection, and collective experience. Working primarily with MadMapper, she creates site-specific installations that combine projection with architecture and material, using light and moving image as tools for atmosphere, storytelling, and presence.

In this beginner-friendly course, Sieanele will take participants from the fundamentals of MadMapper through the process of designing and performing a complete projection-mapped scene.

📐 Create, warp, and mask surfaces to map video and images onto walls, objects, fabric, and architecture.

🎛️ Build scenes and cue lists, layer effects, and develop workflows for installations and live performance.

🔊 Make visuals responsive to sound using audio input and beat detection, and connect MIDI and OSC controllers for real-time interaction.

✨ Experiment with shaders and generators, plus Syphon and multi-projector workflows for more complex environments.

Each session combines instruction with hands-on studio time, with participants working directly with projectors and physical surfaces from day one.

By the end of the course, you’ll leave with a complete projection-mapped scene and a repeatable workflow for creating site-specific work for galleries, performances, events, and installations.

𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎𝟏: 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

🗓️ September 30 – October 21, 2026
🕕 Wednesdays, 6 – 9 PM
📍 In- Person at Gray Area, SF

💸 $480 | Scholarships available
🌟 Beginner-friendly
📌 Scholarship applications due September 15

🔗 Space is limited ~ Learn more + enroll at https://grayarea.org/course/madmapper-101-projection-mapping/

08/31/2026

Unseen Visions: A New Age Music and Culture Symposium ✨

October 9 + 10 at Gray Area
Co-presented with Reflections

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

Friday night opens with a live performance by Robert Rich, whose work has helped shape ambient, dark ambient, and some of the most adventurous edges of New Age music for more than four decades.

On Saturday, the symposium continues with conversations, performances, archival presentations, and screenings featuring Steven Halpern, Kat Epple of Emerald Web, Larkin Stentz, Georgianne Cowan, Erik Davis, Megan Phipps, and Jacob Smith, with visuals by Ken Jenkins.

Saturday evening closes with a performance by Steven Halpern on Fender Rhodes with visuals by Ken Jenkins, followed by Kat Epple and screenings of visionary films by Jordan Belson, Dorothy Fadiman / Concentric Media - Award Winning Documentaries, and Rowena Pattee Kryder.

📅 October 9 + 10, 2026
📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater, San Francisco

Two-day passes + individual event tickets are available now at the link in bio.

08/26/2026

More ways to learn at Gray Area this fall 🍂

Registration is now open for our Fall 2026 workshops and intensive courses, with classes spanning electronic music, projection mapping, decentralized technology, creative coding, hardware, and more.

Here’s a closer look at some of what’s coming up:
🎛️ Machines & Ideas: Creative Electronic Music Production in Ableton Live 12
with Ryan Smith
→ Learn the tools of electronic music in Ableton Live 12, then learn to break them, developing your own approaches to composition, production, and performance.
[Tuesdays, 6 – 9 PM | Sept 15 – Oct 6]

🌀 MadMapper 101: Projection Mapping for Immersive Environments
with Sieanele Ponce
→ Learn the fundamentals of MadMapper and build projection-mapped environments that transform architecture, objects, and unconventional surfaces through image and light.
[Wednesdays, 6 – 9 PM | Sept 30 – Oct 21]

🌐 Beyond Big Tech
with Ayana Zaire Cotton, mai ishikawa sutton, Sarah Friend, Sarah Grant, and Nasir Anthony Montalvo
→ Explore data sovereignty, self-hosting, and the decentralized web while gaining hands-on experience building networked resources outside centralized tech infrastructure.
[Oct 5 – Nov 12]

🌀 Vibecheck: Building 3D Generative and Interactive Art with AI
with Kate Hollenbach
→ Build interactive 3D artwork for the web using three.js, combining vibecoding with direct authorship of code while developing your JavaScript coding literacy along the way.
[Nov 2 – 23]

🏗️ Breadboarding Modular Synthesizers
with Sean Hallowell
→ Build a playable instrument from the ground up using breadboarded oscillator and sequencing circuits to create synth melodies, rhythmic patterns, and live drum sequences.
[Oct 5 & 7 | 6 – 9 PM]

Featured DWeb projects:
guacamaya net.work by jorge courtade
Right to Belong by Joni Chan
{B/qKC}: a Black q***r archive by Nasir Anthony Montalvo, Anevay Martz, & Sunday Adesoye Adegbenro

And there’s more coming soon 👀 Keep your Wednesdays open: we’ll be announcing a new community-driven weekly program for workshops, artist talks, and more.

Explore our currently announced Fall 2026 classes and register now at grayarea.org/courses/

08/25/2026

𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 🍂

Build creative electronic music systems, transform architecture with projection mapping, explore alternatives to Big Tech, or create interactive 3D art with AI.

This fall’s intensive courses are led by artists, technologists, and educators working across electronic music, immersive media, decentralized technology, creative coding, and generative art.

𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓼
✶ Machines & Ideas: Creative Electronic Music Production in Ableton Live 12

with Ryan Smith
September 15 – October 6

✶ MadMapper 101: Projection Mapping for Immersive Environments

with Sieanele Ponce
September 30 – October 21

✶ Beyond Big Tech

with Ayana Zaire Cotton, mai ishikawa sutton, Sarah Friend, Sarah Grant, and Nasir Anthony Montalvo
October 5 – November 12

✶ Vibecheck: Building 3D Generative and Interactive Art with AI

with Kate Hollenbach
November 2 – 23

~

And there’s more to come: new workshops and a community-driven weekly program featuring workshops, artist talks, and more will be announced soon.

~

Become a Gray Area Member: Co-Creator members receive 10% off intensive courses, plus 20% off workshops and other membership perks.

Fall intensive registration is now open at https://grayarea.org/courses/

08/22/2026

BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer) is back for summer ☀️

A one-night exhibit of moving light, generative visuals, and immersive projection art.

Originally conceived by pioneer digital artist Rafaël Rozendaal, Bring Your Own Beamer (BYOB) invites artists to bring their own beamers and take over the space with ephemeral, experimental work. Expect everything from hypnotic loops and generative systems to strange hardware contraptions and happy accidents.

📅 Thursday, Aug 27
🕖 7 PM
📍 Gray Area

RSVP at https://luma.com/o0lf6l4e

08/19/2026

We recently celebrated the 2026 Cultural Incubator Showcase, featuring work by eleven Bay Area artists, designers, and creative technologists who are rebuilding the structures around technology.

From animated worlds to new models of creative ownership to shared and embodied media experiences, the Showcase brought four months of mentorship, critique, and prototyping into public view.

Thank you to everyone who came out to play, test, question, and explore with us. 🖤

📸 by Naveed Ahmad

08/18/2026

📚 👃 CYBERSENTICS LITTLE LIBRARY LAUNCH

Follow your nose to the hum of computers...give in to judging books by their covers...let yourself slow down and think...all at Gray Area.

Gray Area is unveiling Cybersentics (little) Library—a growing, hands-on collection of books, gadgets, and oddities built by and for our community and your chance to dig in, weigh in, and help shape what it becomes.

At the event, you can:
• Browse the collection—books, tech, and artifacts on the shelves for you to page through and poke at
• Learn what the library's for—the mission behind it and how it fits into Gray Area's broader work
• Meet the community—other members, contributors, and fellow nerds-in-good-standing
• Get the scoop on Book Club—a recurring series where we actually read and discuss what's on the shelves
• Pitch an item—got a book, zine, or gadget that belongs here? Tell us why
• Swap something—bring a book or piece of electronics to trade with other attendees

and more...

Come be part of the first chapter!

Opening Night:
📅 Thursday, August 20
🕖 6 PM

📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater
🎟️ RSVP at https://luma.com/wt3m494b

08/17/2026

THIS FRIDAY! Experience 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘛𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, a live audiovisual performance by Pierce Warnecke and Matthew Biederman that navigates an evolving landscape of sound and image in real time.

Built from field recordings and 3D scans of Latvia’s forests, bogs, and nature reserves, the work moves between documentation and abstraction, exploring what is revealed, and what disappears, when an ecosystem is translated into data.

Performed through a custom AV system, only a fraction of the work’s sonic and visual environments are explored each night, making every performance a different journey through the landscape.

Opening performance by Jorge Bachmann, and Andrej Hrončo (visuals).

📅 Friday, August 21
🕖 7 PM
📍 Gray Area

08/14/2026

SF Electronic Music Festival turns 25 🎛️ Come celebrate at Gray Area with a special gala bringing together some of the artists pushing electronic music forward across generations:

Featuring Carl Stone, Only Now (Kush Arora), Luciano Chessa + Wobbly (Jon Leidecker) performing Ramón Sender Barayón’s Desert Ambulance, and a genre-spanning DJ set from Sly Ida.

A night honoring 25 years of experimentation, artists, and community while supporting SFEMF’s next chapter.

📅 August 22, 2026
🕣 7:30PM

📍 Gray Area, 2665 Mission Street, San Francisco
Tickets at https://tickets.grayarea.org/events/9b56bab3-d0e4-81c1-bd6b-6a9a037d0cd2

Address

2665 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA
94110

Telephone

+14158431423

Website

https://grayarea.org/

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