An initiative for cultural action in a critical political era
An initiative of artists, curators and cultural organizations presenting socially engaged art in response to the political and civic realities of our time.
We cannot look away.
Initiated and spearheaded by TnT Art Lab.
Join usAbout the initiative
A Greater Bay Area coalition of grassroots nonprofits and major institutions, each contributing its own strengths, audiences and communities.
TnT Art Lab, on the corner of Turk and Taylor, San Francisco.
The moment we are in
Cultural organizations face growing polarization, disinformation and declining support for civic engagement — and pressure to avoid difficult conversations just when communities need artists most.
The work is not what is missing. The visibility, infrastructure and support to sustain it is.
What we will do
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Daapo Reo, How to Speak An American, 2025.
Signature projects
An annual signature project at each partner organization, plus artist-led work on urgent political and civic themes.
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Helina Metaferia, video still from The Willing, 2023.
Convening and dialogue
Convenings, public dialogue, critical writing and documentation across the coalition.
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Festival at YBCA.
A shared voice
Shared communications and branding, and one regional calendar across the Greater Bay Area.
Three years, aligned with the 2026 midterm and 2028 presidential cycles. Deliberately lightweight: strong enough for collective impact, flexible enough to grow.
Read the initiative statementWhat success looks like
By the end of year three: 9–12 major socially engaged projects across the Bay Area, a stable coalition of 8–10 core organizations, partnerships with major institutions, and a model ready for further funders.
The coalition
Partners are deliberately unalike. A neighbourhood nonprofit and a major museum bring different audiences, resources and room to manoeuvre, and the model uses that difference rather than flattening it:
- smaller organizations gain visibility, resources and institutional support
- larger institutions engage more dynamically with urgent cultural issues
- the field becomes more resilient and publicly relevant
TnT Art Lab convenes partners and keeps momentum. It does not direct what anyone programs.
How it started
It grew out of three trips TnT Art Lab organized for Bay Area curators, museum leaders and donors to see Monuments at MOCA and The Brick in Los Angeles — the show the Los Angeles Times called “the most significant American art museum show right now.”
They showed that bold political work is still possible inside cautious institutions, and that shared experience builds shared intention. The coalition grows from that.
Kara Walker, Hunmanned Drone, bronze, 2023. Photo: Ruben Diaz. Installation view, Monuments, Los Angeles.
Meet the Moment coalition-building trip #2, with representatives from Minnesota Street Project, Timbri Hotel, Anderson Collection and TnT Art Lab.
Joining the coalition
The coalition is forming now; partners will be listed here as each confirms.
If your organization programs socially engaged work in the Bay Area, get in touch. The initiative statement sets out what joining involves.
Bradley McCallum, Shroud Mothers’ Voices, installation detail at TnT Art Lab, San Francisco.
At a time of fragmentation,
collaboration creates both
strength and protection.
Programs
What the coalition is putting on, and where.
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October 2026
The Passport
A printed 44-page guide to what Bay Area organizations are doing through October, in the run-up to the midterms — and a digital edition with every organization mapped.
Open the Passport -
Date to be announced
Mid-Market Video Festival
A night of artist video along Market Street in San Francisco, screened in storefronts, lobbies and windows between Fifth and Tenth.
Read more
News and announcements
Announcements, partner news and notes from the initiative.
Nothing announced yet
Meet the Moment is in its coalition-building phase. Announcements appear here as partners confirm; the mailing list gets them first.
In the meantime
TnT Art Lab, which initiated Meet the Moment, runs exhibitions, residencies and public programs year-round at 67 Turk Street. Current schedule at tntartlab.com.
TnT Art Lab’s programming is its own, listed here as context rather than as Meet the Moment programming.
Ways to participate
A new way for the arts sector to meet a time of civic urgency — not as isolated institutions, but as a collective cultural force.
Three routes in
Depending on whether you are giving, programming or following along.
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TnT Art Lab, on the corner of Turk and Taylor, San Francisco.
Become a founding supporter
Funds are raised through TnT Art Lab’s 501(c)(3) and distributed to coalition partners, artist commissions and public programming.
Start a conversation -
Meet the Moment coalition-building trip #2.
Bring your organization in
For Bay Area organizations that want to be part of a coordinated season.
How the coalition works -
Festival at YBCA.
Stay informed
Occasional email about partners, programming and how to take part.
Join the mailing list
Questions about taking part
Answers to the most common ones are in the FAQ further down. For anything else, email bradleymccallum@me.com.
Collective action
creates cultural power.
Toolkit and usage terms
The mark, the usage terms and the initiative statement in full. Free to download and use within the terms below.
| Preview | Name | Type | Size | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Initiative statement — download, PDF, 5.2 MB | 5.2 MB | ||
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Logo pack — download, ZIP, 73 KB | ZIP | 73 KB |
Because
we cannot look away
Put the mark on your material and you put your name to the line the initiative began from.
Usage terms
- Maintain clear space around the logo, roughly the height of the “M”.
- Do not stretch, rotate, recolor or add effects to it.
- Use the reversed logo on dark backgrounds and the primary logo on light ones.
- Keep sufficient contrast; avoid placing the logo on busy imagery.
- Please represent Meet the Moment respectfully.
The typeface is Special Elite.
For questions or additional assets, email bradleymccallum@me.com.
Press and media
Contact, boilerplate and assets. Meet the Moment is in its coalition-building phase; programming announcements will follow.
Press contact
Bradley McCallum
Founding Director, TnT Art Lab
bradleymccallum@me.com
Visit
TnT Art Lab
67 Turk Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Open by appointment. Wheelchair accessible — get in touch about access needs.
Boilerplate
Meet the Moment
Meet the Moment is an initiative of artists, curators and cultural organizations presenting socially engaged art in response to the political and civic realities of our time. It operates as a flexible network across the Greater Bay Area, from grassroots nonprofits to major institutions, each contributing according to its strengths, audiences and communities. It is initiated and spearheaded by TnT Art Lab.
TnT Art Lab
TnT Art Lab is the first dedicated space for social practice in the Bay Area: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit hub for research, production, education and public engagement, in the Tenderloin at Turk and Taylor. Founded in 1989 as Collaborative Urban Sculpture and renamed Conjunction Arts in 1998, it relocated to San Francisco in 2024. Its founding director is Bradley McCallum.
TnT Art Lab board of directors
- Chris Barnett — Sterling Art Services LLC
- Natasha Becker — Curator, de Young Museum
- Alison Cornyn — artist and educator
- Paola Gallio — curator and founder, Tappeto Volante Gallery
- Nupur Mathews — artist
- Marta Thoma Hall — artist, founder of Floating Museum on the Barge
- Patricia Williams — author and professor of law, Northeastern University
Coverage
Coverage of the initiative will be collected here as it appears.
Frequently asked questions
Who is behind Meet the Moment?
TnT Art Lab, a 501(c)(3) at 67 Turk Street, San Francisco, and the first dedicated space for social practice in the Bay Area. It holds that artists are civic actors rather than commentators; Meet the Moment extends that outward across the region. Full boilerplate in press.
Where does it operate?
The Greater Bay Area, with partners ranging from grassroots nonprofits to major institutions.
How long does it run?
Three years, aligned with the 2026 midterm and 2028 presidential election cycles, with a third phase planned beyond 2029.
Who can take part?
Organizations of any scale — asymmetry is central to the model. See the coalition.
Can we use the logo on our own materials?
Yes. The mark and its usage terms are in the toolkit, free to download.
Call to action
We invite you to join us as a founding supporter — not as isolated institutions, but as a collective cultural force.
The moment is here.
We meet it — together.
Keep in touch
Occasional email — partners, programming, and the first place anything is announced.
Follow
Until Meet the Moment has channels of its own, TnT Art Lab carries its news.
These are TnT Art Lab’s accounts; Meet the Moment’s own will be listed here when they open. The mailing list is the first place anything is announced.