{"id":180308,"date":"2026-02-16T17:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180308\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T17:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:07:14","slug":"people-go-to-the-sunset-for-the-food-now-for-the-arts-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180308\/","title":{"rendered":"People go to the Sunset for the food. Now, for the arts, too."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Comic<\/a><\/p>\n

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People come to the Sunset to sample the fish burrito from Hook Fish Co.<\/a>, the chicken wings at San Tung<\/a> or the biscuit breakfast sandwich from Devil\u2019s Teeth<\/a>. Now, increasingly, they can come for the art galleries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These spaces, often just a few hundred square feet, are tiny compared to those in other parts of the city, like the three-story artist building at 1890 Bryant St.<\/a>, or the Minnesota Street Project<\/a> in Dogpatch that occupies 4,600 square feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But artists, curators and gallery owners \u2014 many of them locals living just a few blocks from their space \u2014 are putting the Sunset on the map for the arts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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After the COVID-19 pandemic, smaller commercial spaces on the Westside became more available and affordable. \u201cIt felt like the scale was tipping right at this moment,\u201d said Ben Frombgen, an architect who runs Birdhouse Gallery<\/a> on Judah Street and 31st Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TwoBen Frombgen shows a handmade wooden sign reading \u201cart\u201d with bird feathers on top. Photo by Junyao Yang. <\/p>\n

There has always been a vibrant artists\u2019 community in the Sunset, noted John Lindsey, the owner of the Great Highway Gallery<\/a> on Lawton Street since 2013.<\/p>\n

Back in the 1890s, people bought discarded horse-drawn streetcars and used them as houses, offices and studios near Ocean Beach. The area, known as Carville<\/a>, was frequented by Bohemian artists like the novelist Jack London, poet George Sterling and artist Xavier Martinez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More recently, artists like the Mexican performance artist Ana Teresa Fernandez<\/a>, sculptor Lawrence LaBianca<\/a> and painter Jessica Dunne<\/a> have moved to the outer avenues.<\/p>\n

But \u201cright now, you have a lot of small little spaces, which is really cool,\u201d Lindsey said. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t the case when I opened up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRent is never cheap,\u201d he added. \u201cBut there were a lot of opportunities for people to go into spaces that were not $5 a square foot, but maybe $2.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sunlight<\/p>\n

The Sunset is not yet a place like the Mission, where people go on a random Friday night and see what they can bump into, said Daniel Lucas, the education director at Problem Library<\/a>, an art and education space in the Inner Sunset.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese spaces are less of their own destination, but more like part of the community and life out here,\u201d Lucas said.<\/p>\n

That freedom also benefits the artists. \u201cThere is a lot of openness out here,\u201d said Lucas. \u201cYou can experiment in a way that might be more difficult if you\u2019re in a cluster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fog and the ocean<\/p>\n

Many of these galleries feature Sunset artists, or artwork related to the unique nature of Sunset, the ocean and summer fog.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last May, the Last Straw<\/a>, a 200-square-foot gallery at Irving Street and 47th Avenue, presented a solo exhibition by photographer Richard Sexton<\/a>. It showed photographs of the Outer Sunset from 1977 to 1978 \u2014 the street cars, colorful single-family homes, and dangling power lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over at the Great Highway Gallery, Lindsey has hosted over 150 exhibitions in the past decade. A westside zine fest. A photo exhibition from longtime Ocean Beach life guard Sean Scallan<\/a>. An installation from Kevin Byrd<\/a>, a Sunset artist who uses zip ties, USB cords and speaker wires to make fly fishing flies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

In these tiny gallery spaces, curators have to be creative. At the Last Straw, \u201ceverything can be brought in and everything can be removed,\u201d the owner Graham Woo-Holoch said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every piece of furniture has to be modular, and most importantly, able to fit in his hatchback Subaru Impreza, Holoch said \u2014 so that he can haul them to his studio in Dogpatch and leave a blank canvas for artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the 360-square-foot Birdhouse Gallery, Frombgen keeps four wooden beams stacked against the wall and moves them around depending on the show. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s best to have them out of the space completely. Other times we\u2019ll make a pair of benches, or a table, or a bleacher,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

With space so tight, galleries spill onto the sidewalk. When a show opens at Birdhouse, artists share a ritual of making a bench on the street, and anyone, coming for the show or not, can take a seat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While bigger galleries often feel empty and cold, Frombgen said, at the Birdhouse, \u201cIt\u2019s warm. Sometimes it gets pretty loud. But that\u2019s what makes it fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone\u2019s living room\u2019<\/p>\n

When Jeana Loraine opened Sealevel<\/a>, a 450-square-foot art space on Irving and 45th Avenue five years ago, her goal was to create a place that serves as \u201ceveryone\u2019s living room.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the past three years, Loraine has hosted annual \u201cSummer in the Sunset\u201d group exhibitions, which invite some 20 artists to pay tribute to the neighborhood and its unique summer weather. Sealevel also hosts open mics for music and poetry, and a songwriters circle led by Grammy-nominated musician Frances England.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These days, \u201cit\u2019s so important to have a space where people can gather,\u201d said Loraine. \u201cIt\u2019s not a bar, not a place where you have to pay an entry fee. People are just really hungry for connection.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AJeana Loraine, owner of Sealevel, poses for a portrait in front of her space in the Outer Sunset on Jan. 28, 2026. Photo by Junyao Yang. <\/p>\n

With an influx of young families in the Sunset, Frombgen said the neighborhood is ripe for more art spaces, which often double as a hub for neighbors and friends to gather and interact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tucked between a pottery studio and a dry cleaner, Birdhouse Gallery was once a stinky driveway where the previous pet store next door \u2014 the Animal Connection, before its name made headlines<\/a> in the District 4 supervisor controversy \u2014 boarded its birds. After the pet store moved in 2019, the landlord separated the driveway and leased the small space on its own.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since 2023, Frombgen has kept the doors open for art and for people to hang out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His first event was a bike club get-together with bike trainers and movies. Then there were paella parties and birthday celebrations. It even served as a polling place during elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Frombgen puts up ping pong tables in the backyard, inviting friends to play. He hosts his bike club after rides for coffee and pastries, with 50 bicycles flooding the backyard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The gallery had its first art show in October 2023 \u2014 a solo exhibition of abstract paintings from Bill Bloomfield<\/a>. This year, 15 shows are already scheduled, with Lani Asher\u2019s mixed media collage on paper<\/a> currently on view to the end of the month.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we grow these communities and create this buzz,\u201d Frombgen said, \u201cI feel an obligation to not let up, to not let there be a lull. I want to keep the momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

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