Reflecting on a Year of Growth: CAST’s 2024 Highlights

As 2024 comes to a close, we’re proud to look back on a year filled with growth, collaboration, and community impact. From launching groundbreaking initiatives like Space to Dream to deepening partnerships with BIPOC-led organizations, we’ve been steadfast in our mission to secure and steward permanently affordable spaces for arts and culture.

The past twelve months have been a whirlwind of milestones and achievements that underscore our mission to keep artists and arts and cultural organizations rooted in the neighborhoods where they create. Looking forward, we see 2025 as a year filled with promise and opportunity to further our impact, even amid a climate of national and local transitions.

2024 Highlights: Expanding Our Impact

This year, we expanded our footprint in San Francisco, fortifying our role as a bridge between the public and private sectors through new partnerships to deepen our impact in the arts and cultural landscape:

Supporting the GLBT Historical Society: In November, we celebrated the City of San Francisco’s acquisition of 2280 Market Street, the future home of the GLBT Historical Society. CAST will partner with GLBT to provide property and asset management support for the site and its existing tenants, playing an intermediary role with the City to ensure GLBT is set up for success in its eventual ownership.

Scaling up our portfolio with the Filipino American Development Foundation: In 2024, we made significant progress in growing our portfolio to 86,206 square feet, with another 165,000+ square feet in development. Part of that growth stems from our latest partnership with the Filipino American Development Foundation (FADF) supporting their acquisition of a permanent home at 457 Minna Street. This historic milestone establishes FADF as a vital cultural anchor in the SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Cultural District and ensures that essential services for arts, education, and mental health remain accessible for future generations. Together, we are building a vibrant cultural corridor along Minna Street that preserves the legacy and future of the Filipino community in the Bay Area.

Opportunities for learning and sharing: This year, CAST embraced the opportunity to learn and grow through meaningful exchanges with peers and partners from across the country. Site visits from groups like the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation in Denver and the Laundromat Project in New York brought fresh perspectives and invaluable insights, while travels to cities like Miami at the Bakehouse Art Complex and Seattle’s Cultural Space Agency allowed CAST to both model its work for other communities and learn more about their specific approaches. These experiences are shaping our evolving role as a national model, as we begin to experiment with what it means to extend our impact beyond the Bay Area.

447 Minna: A Community Hub

The 447 Minna building has continued to be a beacon of creativity and community in 2024, hosting a variety of events and programs that highlight its role as a vital community hub. Local artists like Patricia Diart, Gazelle Samizay, and Chee Wang Ng brought the space to life with immersive installations that commented on cultural identity and political themes, transforming the venue and drawing hundreds of visitors to engage with their art in an intimate environment. Meanwhile, the building served as a central gathering space for workshops, panel discussions, and community events, fostering dialogue on the future of arts in urban spaces.

Performances and exhibitions further enriched 447 Minna’s programming, featuring live music, theater, dance, and art exhibitions that celebrated both emerging and established creatives. Events like our Cultural Space Cafe, the SF Neo-Futurists‘ show The Infinite Wrench, and PUSH Dance Company‘s BASE Residency Showcase reinforced the building’s importance as an accessible cultural space and connector across disciplines.

The success of 447 Minna in 2024 exemplifies our commitment to nurturing spaces where arts and culture can flourish, providing a vehicle for human connection. As we move forward, we aim to build on this momentum to continue supporting creative experimentation and innovative programming that deepens 447 Minna’s roots for SOMA and the extended Bay Area arts community.

Building Space to Dream

In 2024, we launched our Space to Dream Initiative, a 10-year initiative designed to ensure long-term affordability for artists and arts organizations in the Bay Area. Under the umbrella of the Initiative, we introduced two innovative financing solutions — the Creative Cities Fund and the Anchoring Artists Fund — to address funding gaps and help organizations secure their spaces.

The Space to Dream Initiative exemplifies CAST’s forward-thinking approach to ensuring the sustainability of arts spaces. By embracing innovation and collaboration, we are not only meeting the growing demand for affordable arts spaces but also paving the way for new models of cultural preservation and community engagement.

The Future of CAST

As we close out 2024, we reflect on the lessons learned and the progress made. While the path to sustainability is never assured, we remain committed to resilience, innovation, and collaboration. The uncertainties of market shifts and societal changes underscore the importance of our mission: to secure the greatest chance for sustained, affordable spaces for artists and arts organizations.

By diversifying our efforts and managing growth intentionally, we are building a foundation for lasting impact. Thank you for your continued partnership and support. Together, we are shaping a future where arts and culture thrive.