Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Announces Upcoming Season of Exhibitions and Programs for 2026

Featuring artists exploring politics, social transformation, and personal histories.

May 18, 2026 – San Francisco, CA:  Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) today announces a new season of exhibitions, performances, and programs for the second half of 2026 — including an exhibition with newly commissioned work by socially-engaged artist Dread Scott, the most comprehensive exhibition to date by renowned Bay Area architecture studio Rael San Fratello, the first major U.S. institutional exhibition for surrealist painter GaHee Park, and the official premiere of a one-woman show by celebrated poet Denice Frohman.

“Each of the artists in our summer and fall seasons are driven by relentless creative inquiry into the moment in which we live,” said Mari Robles, CEO of YBCA. “From compelling climate solutions, to urgent reflections on our political environment, to stunning meditations on what makes us human, each offers a unique lens on our contemporary landscape.” 

GaHee Park, Woman with Shadow and Ants, 2024.

Digital rendering of Sanctuary, 2026. Courtesy of Rael San Fratello

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

GaHee Park: Behind the Curtain opens on August 7, and marks Park’s first solo institutional exhibition in the US. Curated by Dorothy Dávila, the show presents recent paintings that explore sexuality, mortality, fantasy, identity, and alienation through Park’s surrealist lens. Both visually captivating and subtly unsettling, Park’s works invert interiority and the external world to construct ambiguous layered narratives. A film series will accompany the exhibition, showcasing classic, contemporary, and international films exploring similar themes of voyeurism, surreality, and the politics of desire. 

On September 29, YBCA will open two major exhibitions, both curated by René Morales. Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations explores the work of the design studio founded by Virginia San Fratello and Ronald Rael, which operates at the intersection of poetics and utility, architecture and social practice. Encompassing more than two decades of production, this mid-career survey traces Rael San Fratello’s evolution from their early experiments in wearable housing, to a series of projects centered on the U.S.–Mexico border, and beyond. One of the centerpieces of the exhibition is Sanctuary, a large-scale commissioned structure made of adobe bricks and solar rods, which combines traditional and state-of-the-art methods to propose ecologically sound building techniques, while providing visitors with a space for quiet contemplation.

Dread Scott: The Body Politic brings together work that reflects Scott’s longtime commitment to art forms that confront political issues and interrogate American patriotism. Known for rigorously researched projects that contend with the structure and enforcement of power, Scott’s new commissions include a monumental work made up of dozens of ethereal body prints and a durational performance piece in which a uniformed guard protects a U.S. flag. At once cool and confrontational, Scott’s work insists on the inseparability of art and radical social transformation. A related series of films will be presented by author, programmer, and Criterion Collection Curatorial Director Ashley Clark. Drawing from Clark’s expansive new book, The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films, the series includes films from the 1960s through the 1980s representing an electrifying and stylistically diverse period in global Black cinema. 

“Together, these exhibitions reinforce YBCA’s commitment to being a platform for artists who center timely conversations in challenging and poetic modes,” said Dorothy Dávila, Chief of Curatorial Initiatives at YBCA. “Each artist brings a singular voice and perspective to YBCA, expanding the ways we engage with one another, our audiences, and the world at large.” 

Denice Frohman. Photo by Yuri K. Fujita.

Installation view of The Haunt at YBCA, 2025. Photo by Jason Henry.

From July 11–19, YBCA will present the official premiere of Esto No Tiene Nombre, a one woman show by acclaimed poet Denice Frohman. Drawing upon interviews gathered for I See My Light Shining: Oral Histories of Our Elders, Frohman brings the oral histories of Latina lesbian elders to life—placing herself and the audience inside their stories. Tickets are on sale now at YBCA.org/esto

“We are especially thrilled to premiere Esto No Tiene Nombre during the final months of Conjuring Power: Roots and Futures of Queer and Trans Movements,” said Robles. “Frohman’s performance is vivid, tender, moving, and often humorous, and adds a powerful new dimension to the authentic stories featured in the exhibition.” 

Finally, from October 29–31, The Haunt will return to YBCA for a second year. A grassroots haunted house and immersive Halloween hangout, The Haunt gathers local artists, tarot readers, DJs, and videomakers for a spirited and spooky seasonal celebration. The Haunt is co-presented by YBCA and Bat Witch Ghost, a San Francisco arts organization founded by Aaron Wojack. 

YBCA programs are made possible in part by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Blue Shield of California, Bob A. Ross Foundation, City and County of San Francisco, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Malia Simonds, Mayor Daniel Lurie, National Endowment for the Arts, The Ron Conway Family, Salesforce, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The Svane Family Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy, Yerba Buena Partnership, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Board of Directors and Members. 

Esto No Tiene Nombre was created and developed with support from Baldwin for the Arts, Emerson Collective, Journey Arts, the Philadelphia Foundation, and The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center’s Historias Initiative.

About YBCA:

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is San Francisco’s home for bold, daring, and breathtaking art. Across contemporary art, performance, dance, film, and public programs, we present essential artistic voices from across the world, while celebrating the vibrancy of Bay Area culture. Embodying the independent and unconventional spirit of our city, YBCA has been the creative heartbeat of San Francisco for more than thirty years. For more information, visit ybca.org.

YBCA is open Thursday through Sunday 11:00am to 5:00pm, and on Wednesdays from 11:00am to 8:00pm.

General admission is $10, and $5 for students and seniors. Admission is free every Wednesday. For tickets and information, visit ybca.org.

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For media inquiries:

Abby Margulies | (614) 827-5810 | [email protected]