YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS

 Opened to the public in 1993, YBCA was founded as the cultural anchor  of San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens neighborhood. Our work spans the  realms of contemporary art, performance, film, civic engagement, and  public life. By centering artists as essential to social and cultural  movement, YBCA is reimagining the role an arts institution can play in  the community it serves. 

Our mission is to generate culture that moves people. 

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is not an art museum. While museums maintain permanent art collections, YBCA is a non-collecting organization – more like a European kunsthalle. This frees up resources that can be directed towards developing new, innovative cultural programs. Unlike museums, YBCA places equal emphasis on visual arts, performing arts, the art of film, and our civic engagement work. This means that each visit to YBCA can be a new and very different experience. 

 In 1994, Michael Smuin set out to, in his words, “infuse ballet with the rhythm, speed, and syncopation of American popular culture,” and Smuin Contemporary Ballet (née Smuin Ballets/SF, or more recently, Smuin Ballet) was born. Michael Smuin’s vision lives on following his sudden passing in 2007, and the Company continues to push the boundaries of contemporary ballet within a distinctly modern style, combining classical ballet training, technique, and artistry with uncommon physicality and expression. 

 More than 30,000 people enjoy Smuin performances each season, performing more than 60 shows during its regular season in San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Mountain View, and Carmel. Smuin is one of Northern California’s leading nonprofit dance companies, cementing its place at the forefront of the Bay Area arts scene.