DreamingSpaces
Dreaming Spaces places artists, cultural workers, and creatives at the center of the dreaming process. Together with community members, artists, architects, engineers, city planners, and public health officials, we envision what can be done to create and share art in safe environments, free from disease, discrimination, and violence.
Designing a cultural hub at 447 Minna
Dreaming Spaces San Francisco began with a focus on 447 Minna, a building in SoMa stewarded by CAST that opened to the public in March 2022.
We brought together artists, cultural workers, and community residents to dream up and collectively design a cultural hub at 447 Minna that meets the collective needs and desires of the SoMa neighborhood and community. Together, we reimagined the 1st and 2nd floor spaces of 447 Minna to be inclusive and reflective of the SoMa community through arts and culture. We also explored how to foster a sense of community that also provides a safer environment through arts and culture in outdoor and community spaces around the 447 Minna neighborhood.
The Dreaming Spaces Steering Committee
As the steward of the space at 447 Minna, CAST made an early commitment to inclusivity and community engagement. We assembled a steering committee to reflect the diversity of the SoMa neighborhood through the Dreaming Spaces Steering Committee.
Demetri Broxton
Senior Director of Education
Museum of the African Diaspora
There’s been a lot of intention behind setting the expectations, but also setting the tone that this is an inclusive space…focusing on the arts, but also focusing on the people who live in the neighborhood.
Robin Abad Ocubillo
Director
Shared Spaces, City of San Francisco
What’s so critical about what CAST is doing in the Bay Area, and specifically, what we’re doing here in South of Market, is that we’re focusing on the artist. We’re focusing on culture workers, and these are folks, practitioners, who typically are more vulnerable to the seismic forces of economy and displacement. We need to guard against further displacement and nurture that resident here in our city.
Get to Know the Committee
Facilitators & Designers
The Process
CAST and the Dreaming Spaces SF Steering Committee conducted a series of online and in-person listening sessions, one-to-one conversations, and tours of 447 Minna over a period of five months. We spoke with 135 residents of Minna Street, artists, cultural workers, youth, elders, institutions, and more.
CAST Real Estate Project Manager Yi Zhong walks the steering committee through the 2nd floor of 447 Minna during the Community Design Day, August 2022
Timeline
Virtual listening sessions kick off
Dreaming Spaces San Francisco launches
Community Design Day: community members translated their dreams into sketches and visualized how 447 Minna can be a safe, welcoming and inclusive space.
Design proposals were showcased at Reimagining Minna Street, a community celebration with over 100 attendees
Watch the Recap
Community Design Day in SoMa
Collaborating with architects, engineers, and city planners, the committee’s extended communities were invited to join in the dreaming. Ideas ranged from mobile, flexible furniture serving a range of art disciplines, to using plant life and tactile finishes to make spaces feel warm and inviting.
Explore the Community Designs
Reimagining in Oakland
Launched in Oakland in 2020 during the pandemic, the first iteration of Dreaming Spaces brought artists and designers together in a virtual space to envision what could be done to create and share art in safe environments. Community members and designers of various trades and expertise were engaged to support the artist “dreaming” process to reimagine spaces for EastSide Arts Alliance, Piano Fight Oakland, and Betti Ono Gallery.
