LookFor Space
We want you to have access to tools and a framework for thinking about your needs and what you want long-term.
Affordable Venues For Short-Term Use
The Excelsior | Geneva Powerhouse
The Geneva Powerhouse is a performance, exhibit, meeting, and event arts and culture venue in San Francisco’s Outer Mission neighborhood. Located steps from Balboa Park BART, and MUNI lines 8, 54, 43 and 49, this historic building is a beautiful canvas for your next event or gathering.
Tenderloin | CounterPulse
CounterPulse is an award-winning art and community facility with a black box theater, studio, and project space to choose from for your next rehearsal, class, or event. Centrally located one-block from Powell Street Station in downtown San Francisco, their intimate space is ready to support your projects and ideas.
Downtown Oakland | Oakstop
Oakstop offers a variety of space options for events, meetings, classes, photo/video production, and large conferences in 5 centrally located areas in Oakland and 1 in Richmond for convenient access.
SoMa | 447 Minna
Located a block and a half south of the Powell Street BART station, the historic Dempster Building at 447 Minna Street offers affordable workspace (performance, exhibition, meeting and office spaces), with subsidized rates for nonprofits and hyperlocal arts and culture groups and community organizations. Stewarded as a cultural community hub by CAST, we welcome a range of arts and cultural practices spanning from visual arts to performing arts, contemporary to experimental, and everything in between
Mayfair | School of Arts and Culture
The School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza is a beautiful and serene oasis located in the heart of San Jose. It is a place of education, culture, and community that celebrates the rich diversity of Silicon Valley. Offering 14 spaces, including a pavilion, an expansive plaza, lush gardens, a world-class theater and more intimate spaces for classes or dance rehearsals. An ideal location to have a wedding, an intimate meeting, a conference, a family celebration, and any other type of event.
For Mid to Long-Term Use
Before embarking on the journey of finding a permanent space or one for a longer period, please fill out our intake form first.
This gives us a snapshot of who you are and how you align with CAST’s values and mission so we may better understand your priorities and needs to determine how to best serve you.
CAST Intake Form
If you are reaching out about a building donation or sale of property, this form is not for you. Please email kikeda@cast-sf.org.
Who We Serve
Basic Eligibility
CAST serves San Francisco Bay Area individual artists, culture bearers, and arts & culture organizations and projects that have been actively practicing and/or programming for 1 or more years.
We prioritize arts & culture nonprofits and fiscally-sponsored projects that serve artists & cultural workers in San Francisco and Oakland with demonstrated programming over the past 3 or more years.
Equity & Inclusion Priorities
- BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ Leadership: BIPOC or LGBTQ+-led and BIPOC or LGBTQ+-serving: Building equitable access to real estate resources, especially for communities of color and disadvantaged communities.
- Displacement Risk & Impacts: Honoring legacy communities and acknowledging current and historical impacts.
- Community Impact: Creating access to the creation, production, and presentation of arts and culture for systemically under-resourced or under-recognized groups, such as Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Indigenous communities.
- Place-keeping: Recognizing and serving your immediate, hyper-local neighbors, prioritizing neighborhoods CAST is actively working in.
- Arts & Culture Ecosystem Position: Acknowledging impacts and opportunities of place and location in the Bay Area, and how projects impact the ecosystem.
You can also learn more about our services by attending an online CAST info session, held every second Wednesday and second Friday of the month.
ASK CAST! is a one-hour online info session offered twice a month to learn more about our services. Our Community Engagement team look forward to meeting you.
Community Partners
If we’re unable to take on a project, we do our best to connect you with resources to address your needs and advance your goals.
Here is a list of close partners to support you with navigating your real estate and financial needs:
Consulting
Community Vision
California Lawyers for the Arts
Equity Community Builders
Ventura Partners
Viscera Studio
Building Code Compliance & Permitting
Photo: Kultivate Labs Founder & Executive Director Desi Danganan
Art: Cherisse Alcantara