After a turbulent year for San Francisco’s arts and culture scene, one of the city’s buzziest nonprofits has opened a new space to host events in SoMa.
Decentered Arts has been packing galleries, artists lofts, studios, and stages for its wide-ranging programming, including open mic nights with stand-up comics and singers, poetry readings with live dancers, fashion shows featuring SF designers, and more. But since it launched in 2023, the nonprofit has always staged events in someone else’s spaces — until now. The group recently debuted Decentered Studio, its second-floor hub at 1175 Folsom St.
“We’ve been displaced from three different venues where we had residencies or recurring events,” said Rhea Joseph, the nonprofit’s marketing and operations director.
The space hosts evening events, as well as coworking during the day.
Decentered’s Folsom Street location hosts its own events, as well as shows and gatherings from other arts and culture groups (for example, the new iteration of The Center, Gather SF, has weekly coworking and tea pop-ups at Decentered).
“It’s been a story of resistance: We’d get kicked out of one space and find another neighborhood to regroup, and add love and creativity,” Joseph said. “Now, we’re ready to give other artists and collectives a space.”
The duo — who bubble over with so much energy that they often interrupt or finish each other’s sentences — say that they got a “good deal” on their five-year lease, with the opportunity to extend for 10 years.
“We want to be here forever,” Cahill said. “Unless someday we outgrow it and get something even bigger.”
In addition to throwing events, Decentered Arts runs a small press, publishes an events tracker, and offers grant writing assistance for other arts organizations. | Source: Morgan Ellis/The Standard
Decentered’s “Poolside Poets” series at The Phoenix Hotel combined poetry, fashion, dance, and music. But by early next year, the venue will no longer host events. | Source: Camille Cohen for The Standard
They’ve outfitted the colorful, airy floor with a hodgepodge of furniture that primarily came from street scores that they’ve upcycled or donations (Cahill is very active in the Buy Nothing community on Facebook). So far, Decentered Studio has packed the space with open mics, yoga classes, craft nights, movie screenings, art openings, clothing swaps, intimacy workshops and more, and has become the group’s headquarters for working on other projects like its small press, events tracker (opens in new tab), and grant writing assistance for other arts organizations.
Most of the events it throws are free or have a “NOTAFLOF” model, (opens in new tab) where those who can’t pay may still attend (and has hosted about 200 in the past year, Joseph estimates). Decentered hopes to subsidize its free events by hosting about six to 10 rentals every month, whether for happy hours, hackathons, or, at this time of year, holiday parties. Along with grants, it also solicits private philanthropy or individual giving (in a nod to its tech-heavy audience, Decentered accepts (opens in new tab) crypto and stock donations).
“Most of our bigger donors have all been people that have directly interacted with our events, and approached us and been like, ‘We love this and want to support it,‘” Cahilll said. “Our programming is our fundraising.”
The space is filled with thrifted, upcycled, and donated furniture. | Source: Morgan Ellis/The Standard
Decentered’s entry into SoMa West (opens in new tab) is a welcome boon, according to Alex Ludlum, who heads the area’s community benefit district.
“I describe it as San Francisco’s last weirdo-majority neighborhood, and they fit right in,” he said. “[Decentered] brings a ton of energy. They’re single-handedly responsible for more young people walking around on Folsom Street than any other operation right now.”
Cahill and Joseph are the nonprofit’s only full-time employees, though they’ve hired a part-time manager to help run the space. The Folsom hub has only been open a few months, but “it feels like years based on the amount we’ve aged trying to do all this work,” Cahill joked, describing many all-nighters and volunteer work days.
“I hope this is the only job that I have for the rest of my life,” Cahill said. “We want to be old ladies and still working on this,” Joseph added. While it’s easy to “feel hopeless” looking at the world right now, Cahill said, bringing people together for creativity and art is the antidote: “As long as Decentered can survive and weather all the storms, that’s the vision.”