The Passport

Meet The Moment

Meet the Moment, an initiative of TnT Art Lab, is a coalition of Bay Area artists, curators, organizations, funders, and audiences creating space for ambitious art and cultural exchange. At a time when political pressure, funding constraints, and institutional caution can narrow what gets made and shown, Meet the Moment supports artists and organizations willing to take risks and ask difficult questions.

Daapo Reo, the fabric of grief, 2026 Courtesy TnT Art Lab

Meet the Moment unfolds through three initiatives in advance of the 2028 presidential election.

The Passport Your guide to exhibitions, performances, screenings, and cultural programs engaging the urgent questions of our time. A passport usually determines where we are permitted to go. This one is an invitation to cross boundaries between communities, institutions, ideas, and perspectives.

Video Art Festival October 30–November 1, 2026. For three days, moving-image art takes to the streets of downtown San Francisco. Six Bay Area curators bring politically and socially engaged video art into storefronts, cultural spaces, businesses, and public view.

Meet the Moment Forum January 2027. Artists, curators, cultural organizations, and funders come together around one question:

What ambitious cultural projects need to happen now—and what will it take to make them possible?

The Forum connects bold ideas with the people and resources that can help realize them.

MEET THE MOMENT. WE CANNOT LOOK AWAY.

Meet the Moment THE FORUM-A LIVE STAGE

Big Ideas into Bold Action

Call for Curatorial Proposals

As the United States approaches the 2028 presidential election, Meet the Moment is seeking ambitious visual art exhibitions and projects that engage the political, civic, and cultural questions shaping public life today.

We are looking for ideas that may be difficult to realize within existing structures—because they require unusual partnerships, significant resources, institutional courage, or the freedom to take a risk.

We especially encourage asymmetric partnerships between large, well-resourced institutions and smaller, more nimble arts nonprofits, collectives, artists, and independent curators.

What becomes possible when organizations with different resources, audiences, and capacities work together?

Selected proposals will receive seed funding and development support, culminating in live presentations to public and private funders

Jasmine Narkita Wiley, Watch_001, 2026. Courtesy of the artist and TnT Art Lab.

at the inaugural Meet the Moment Forum in January 2027.

Exhibitions. Commissions. Performances. Screenings. Public art. Media projects. Unexpected collaborations.

Think beyond your usual limits.

Guidelines + Applications meetthemoment.us

Upcoming Coalition Programming

9 TnT Art Lab

11 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

15 Museum of the African Diaspora

17 Jessica Silverman Gallery

19 Root Division

21 San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery

23 Catharine Clark Gallery

25 Southern Exposure

27 Museum of Craft and Design

29 Haines Gallery

31 Floating Art Museum

35 Berkeley Art Center

33 ARTogether

37 ICA San José

Courtesy TnT Art Lab

“This is not the time to stand on the sidelines but use every tool in our repertoire to resist this regressive political moment.” - Bradley McCallum, Founder and Director

TnT Art Lab

67 Turk St, San Francisco By appointment only

Art for Action: Fall Benefit Exhibition September 15—November 6, 2026

Art for Action brings together an exceptional group of artists who, working from many vantage points, look closely at the realities of today’s conflicts and ask us to imagine what comes next. During NEXUS, TnT will also host two programs: Mary W. D. Graham and Jasmine Narkita Wiley (Sep 30), and Helena Metaferia and Shinique Smith (Oct 3).

In REBELLION, the window display, Deborah Oropallo and Andy Rappaport explore protest and free expression as essential acts of resistance.

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Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

701 Mission Street, San Francisco Public Hours: Wed: 11 AM–8 PM / Thu–Sun: 11 AM–5 PM / Mon–Tues: Closed

Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations September 25, 2026—January 31, 2027

Prototypes and Provocations is the most comprehensive presentation to date of the renowned Bay Area design studio Rael San Fratello. This mid-career survey traces the evolution of their practice, known for disrupting the conventions of architecture—from early experiments merging clothing and construction, to bold projects centered on the U.S.-Mexico border, to their trailblazing work fusing 3D printing with traditional earthen materials.

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“Marshalling the power of art as both a discursive platform for dissent and a vehicle for material change, these exhibitions imagine the world otherwise, exemplifying our ability as individuals and as communities to fight for a better future.” -René Morales, Guest Curator

Previous page: Rael San Fratello, Sawdust Screen (detail). Courtesy of the artist and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Dread Scott: The Body Politic September 25, 2026—January 31, 2027

Dread Scott: The Body Politic is the most significant exhibition of the artist’s work to date, bringing together newly commissioned and existing works that explore the structures of power and examine American patriotism. Drawing on the urgency of the present moment, Scott invites viewers to consider their own positions within the systems that his work lays bare.

Dread Scott, Fight the Power, 2023 Courtesy of the artist and Cristin Tierney Gallery

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Courtesy of the Museum of the African Diaspora

“At MoAD, we believe art and culture have the power to bring people together, deepen understanding, and inspire meaningful action. Meet the Moment aligns with MoAD’s vision that the art we champion fosters a more inclusive and equitable future for all.” -Monetta White, Executive Director and CEO

Museum of the African Diaspora

Various Locations

Nexus: SF / Bay Area Black Art Week September 30— October 4, 2026

Nexus is a regional cultural movement created in collaboration with more than 58 arts organizations, galleries, and creative hubs, alongside more than 70 Black artists and cultural leaders. Together, Nexus presents more than 140 exhibitions, open studios, events, programs, and immersive experiences celebrating the impact of Black art and culture throughout the Bay Area.

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Photo: Phillip Maisel. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman.

“Artists remind us that no single perspective can account for the complexity of our shared experience. Creating space for different voices, histories, and ways of seeing feels especially urgent.” - Jessica Silverman, founder and CEO

Jessica Silverman Gallery

621 Grant Avenue, San Francisco Public Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 AM-6 PM

Lava Thomas: Lineage Sadie Barnette: 28 Exhibition Walkthrough: October 2, 5-7 PM

Join Lava Thomas and Sadie Barnette for an exhibition walkthrough during NEXUS: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week, led by Cornelia Stokes, Assistant Curator of the Art of the African Diaspora at SFMOMA and the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD). The walkthrough will bring the artists’ concurrent solo exhibitions at Jessica Silverman into conversation, exploring how each draws upon personal and collective histories to consider memory, family, place, and Black life across generations.

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“Root Division believes that art is a powerful tool for building a more inclusive and equitable society. By creating accessible opportunities for artists and communities from diverse backgrounds,identities, and perspectives, we foster creative expression, meaningful dialogue, and a shared sense of belonging.” -Demetri Broxton, Executive Director

Photo: Hunter Ridenour

Root Division

1131 Mission Street, San Francisco Public Hours: Tue–Sun: 12 PM-6 PM Sat: appointment only

Root Division’s 25th Annual Benefit Auction October 22, 2026, 6:00–10:00 PM

For 25 years, Root Division has championed artists, built community, and invested in the Bay Area’s creative future. As our largest fundraiser of the year, the Auction brings together artists, collectors, and supporters for an unforgettable evening celebrating art, community, and impact.

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Performance view: Bendición – A ritual performance offering. Córdoba, Spain. April 15, 2023. Courtesy of the Artist

“SFAC Galleries’ exhibitions highlight dialogues that concern San Franciscans: climate change, immigrant stories, the role of activism in shaping the city, and stories of belonging.” -Jackie Im, Associate Curator

San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery

401 Van Ness Ave Ste. 126, San Francisco Public Hours: Wed–Sat: 12 PM-5 PM

Excavating Uranus, A Psalm for Nyota Uhura October 8, 2026 —January 30, 2027

Curated by Ashara Ekundayo, Excavating Uranus, A Psalm for Nyota Uhura explores Black temporalities and Black feminist thought through ritual knowledge, speculative cosmology, and ancestral intelligence. Through installation, experimental video, photography, and sculptural fashion, the artists surface artifacts and create archaeological scriptures. Invoking Star Trek’s Starfleet Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, master translator across galaxies, the exhibition tends to the fragile architectures of communication to ask: how does Black memory travel through time?

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“I have always believed deeply in the capacity of art to question power, wrestle with accepted narratives, and make us look more closely at the structures and values that shape our lives.” -Catharine Clark, President and Founder

Sandow Birk, The Defence of the Many Food Market (ICE Raid) (in collaboration with REALM), 1992-2026. Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco.

Catharine Clark Gallery

248 Utah Street, San Francisco Public Hours: Tue–Sun: 11 AM–6 PM

Sandow Birk: An Illustrated History of the Present, Three Decades of Pictures, Stories, and Other Histories August 29, 2026—November 7, 2027

A major survey of Sandow Birk’s 35-year practice across painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics and film, this retrospective exhibition pairs key works from the artist’s archive with ones newly realized or reimagined. “From the collaborative works with graffiti artists in the 1990s, to the political satire of Trumpagruel in 2017,” gallery founder Catharine Clark writes, “Birk has continually engaged new approaches and forms through which to examine the promises, contradictions, and political realities of American life.”

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“At a time when culture is increasingly shaped by forces that seek to divide, exclude, and silence, cultural institutions have a responsibility to create spaces for connection, dialogue, and collective imagination. We believe that meeting the moment means stepping forward—using art and culture not only to reflect our communities, but to help build the future we want to see and deserve” -Julio César Morales, Curator and Executive Director

Suzanne Lacy, Anatomy Lessons #4: Dreaming, Photograph, 20x30 in, 1977

Southern Exposure

3030 20th Street, San Francisco Public Hours: Tue–Sat: 12 PM-6PM additional times available by appointment

Land/Water/Meat/Noise October 10, 2026—December 31, 2026

Curated by Southern Exposure Executive Director Julio César Morales, Land/Water/Meat/ Noise brings together artists working with water, landscape, food, and sound as primary materials and mediums. The exhibition explores how these elements shape our environments and everyday lives—how they move, transform, and leave traces across spaces, bodies, and time. Featuring Alejandro Almanza-Pereda, Greta Alfaro, Mike Arcega, Jeremiah Barber, Nao Bustamante, Tania Candiani, Leslie Garcia, Bessma Khalaf, Hughen/Starkweather, Suzanne Lacy, Sean McFarland, Anne McGuire, Gabriel Rico, SUPERFLEX, and Richard T. Walker.

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OBJECTS: USA, 2026, Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco. Photography by Henrik Kam.

“In a region that continues to reshape our relationship with tools, technology, and the environment, we believe cultural institutions need to be part of the conversation and act on their agency to help build a more creative, pluralistic, and humane future.” - Masha Berek, Executive Director

Museum of Craft and Design

2569 Third Street, San Francisco Public Hours: Thu–Sun: 12 PM–5 PM

OBJECTS: USA September 5, 2026—January 17, 2027

OBJECTS: USA, reimagines one of the most influential exhibitions in the history of American craft and design, first presented by the Smithsonian in 1969. MCD’s new iteration brings iconic works by original exhibition artists including George Nakashima, Kay Sekimachi, Art Smith, and Peter Voulkos into dialogue with contemporary makers such as Tanya Aguiñiga, Woody De Othello, Roberto Lugo, and Kim Mupangilaï, tracing an evolving lineage of American craft.

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Installation view of 250 Years, Indigenous Futures, September 15 – November 7, 2026 at Haines Gallery, San Francisco. Photo by Shaun Roberts, courtesy Haines Gallery.

“Haines Gallery believes contemporary art can change the conversation and transform the culture. Through exhibitions and public programs, we build bridges between artworks and audiences— fostering dialogue across differences, championing a plurality of per- spectives, and supporting creative practices that are conceptually and formally rigorous.”

-Cheryl Haines, Principal

Haines Gallery

Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, 2 Marina Blvd, Building C, San Francisco Public hours: Tue–Sat, 10:30 AM–5:30 PM

250 Years, Indigenous Futures Exhibition dates: September 15–November 7, 2026

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, Haines Gallery presents 250 Years, Indigenous Futures, a group exhibition featuring the work of eight leading Native American artists: Victoria Grace Canby, Jordan Ann Craig, Sky Hopinka, Brad Kahlhamer, Terran Last Gun, Jamie Okuma, Wendy Red Star, and Keith Secola. Looking beyond commemoration, the exhibition foregrounds Native creativity on the artists’ own terms of engagement. As a whole, the exhibition reminds us that 1776 was only one moment within much longer histories of Indigenous presence, adaptation, and sovereignty—and that our future remains a collective endeavor.

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Lynn Hershman Leeson, Roberta Construction Chart #1, 1975. Courtesy of the artist and Floating Art Museum.

“Art can be a salve in difficult times. It can reach us and hold us when nothing else can. It can bear witness, confront violence, expose power, and give form to emotions that are otherwise difficult to articulate.” -Marta Thoma Hall, President and Curator

Floating Art Museum

2517 Blanding Ave., Alameda Public Hours: Fri–Sat: 11 AM–3 PM additional times available by appointment It’s Just a Shot Away: Power, Gender, and Violence October 25, 2026—January 15, 2027

Featuring artists including Lynn Hershman Leeson, Lucy Puls, Chester Arnold and Enrique Chagoya, It’s Just a Shot Away brings together artists whose work engages with power, sexuality, violence, race, war, vulnerability, censorship, and the body. Together, these works create a space for witnessing and reflection at a moment when the distance between violence on a screen and violence in our own lives can feel increasingly thin.

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“ARTogether exists because we believe art can hold what politics often struggles to: the full dignity of every person, regardless of where they were born. Our mission is to support immigrant and refugee communities through creative expression, and at its heart, that work is an act of pluralism, insisting that many stories, many traditions, and many voices belong in the same room, on equal footing.”

— Sarah McClean, Co-Executive Director, ARTogether

Image courtesy of ARTogether

ARTogether

1200 Harrison St, Oakland

Untold Stories October 16, 2026—January 2027

What stories get left behind when the world decides whose memory counts? Untold Stories is an attempt to connect the dots, to trigger the memories that complete what’s been erased, from ARTogether’s 2026 Artist-in-Residence Mentorship Cohort: Aylin Ayee, Bronche Taylor, Donny Phan, Jacquie Verbal, Ji Young Lee, Kia Lat, Sabri Tunca, and Tea Sherman. Truth seekers from many walks of life, the artists have created space to hold the true stories so often erased by a system that does not honor immigrants, refugees, Black Americans, queer folks, and those who carry the truth close.

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Graphic Designer: Michele Graffieti

“Since 1967, Berkeley Art Center has showcased dynamic and experimental contemporary art, free and open to all, in an intimate setting in Live Oak Park in North Berkeley. BAC has a long-standing commitment to elevating the work of contemporary artists who examine the aesthetic, social, and political concerns of the Bay Area’s diverse communities, and we are delighted to participate in Meet the Moment.” -Thet Shein Win, Interim Executive Director

Berkeley Art Center

Berkeley Public Library 2090 Kittredge St, Berkeley

A READING of the NOITUTITSNOC A Joint Performance by Christy Chan and America’s Founding Fathers October 24, 2026

In a poetic questioning of who gets the agency, power and presence to interpret the U.S. constitution, artist Christy Chan performs a “backwards” reading of the nation’s founding document at Berkeley Public Library. Hearing the constitution read from back to front – in Chan’s voice – may prove to be no less loaded in emotional meaning than to hear it from left to right. In a time when the fundamental liberties of immigrant communities and BIPOC Americans are under siege, Chan invites us to ask: “To whom do these historic words, and by extension, our human and constitutional rights, get to belong?”

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“As a free public art institution, we are committed to fostering a community grounded in openness, inclusion, and the belief that imagining and building a better future is something we do together.” -Zoë Latzer, Curator and Director of Public Programs

Greg Ito, To Give and Take, 2026. Installation View, ICA San José. Photo credit: Shaun Roberts.

ICA San José

560 S. 1st Street, San José Public Hours: Thu–Sun: 12 PM–5 PM

Greg Ito: To Give and Take September 18, 2026—February 21, 2027

Greg Ito: To Give and Take brings together new paintings, sculptures, video, and animation by Los Angeles-based artist Greg Ito. Inspired by Ito’s experience of becoming a father and his reflections on Japanese American family history, the exhibition considers inheritance, generosity, family, and what we leave behind for those who come after us.

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Additional Coalition Partners

SFO Museum

SFO Museum’s work is grounded in the belief that culture should be accessible to everyone. Located within one of the world’s most internationally connected airports, we use exhibitions, collections, and public programs to share a plurality of perspectives and experiences with millions of travelers each year. Rooted in the Bay Area and open to the world, our mission is to elevate the airport experience through stories of aviation, culture, and art that inspire new ways of seeing ourselves and each other. Through this work, we seek to foster inclusion, curiosity, understanding, and meaningful connection across cultures and communities.

COVEN

COVEN is a San Francisco-based arts nonprofit supporting underrepresented artists through storytelling, collaboration, and access to resources. By connecting creatives with talent, workspace, grants, and commercial opportunities, COVEN helps artists build sustainable livelihoods and bring their ideas to life. Its work also activates “Third Places,” spaces beyond home and work where people gather to connect, learn, and create. Across these efforts, COVEN amplifies sidelined voices and brings artists and communities together through creative expression and shared experiences.

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SOMArts

SOMArts leverages the power of art as a tool for social change through multi-disciplinary events and exhibitions. Equipping artists with the space, mentorship and support they need to shift perspectives and innovate solutions to today’s pressing challenges, SOMArts fosters access to arts and culture for collective liberation and self-determination.

Oakland Museum of California

OMCA inspires Californians to create a more vibrant future for themselves and their communities by exploring the big ideas that shape lives and bring to life the under-told stories of the people behind them. OMCA inspires understanding and empathy with stories and experiences of California’s art, history, and natural environment to build more equitable and connected communities.

Djerassi Resident Artists Program

The Djerassi Resident Artists Program supports more than 100 artists annually on 538 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Through uninterrupted time, private studios, shared community, and engagement with the land, Djerassi creates space for artists across disciplines and lived experiences to experiment, take risks, and develop new work.

SF Art Week

SF Art Week is an annual event that celebrates the rich arts landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area and inspires engagement with the arts. The fourth edition of SF Art Week will take place January 16-24, 2027. SFAW provides a curated program for connecting with diverse participants––including art museums, galleries, non-profit organizations and creative spaces–– in new and meaningful ways.

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