![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260716-OasisReopening-JY-08_qed.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA massive donation saved the club from closing. Now it wants to build a legacy. <\/p>\n
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Oasis Arts executive director Greg Sottolano and artistic director D\u2019Arcy Drollinger pose for a portrait at the nightclub in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, July 16, 2026.\u00a0(Juliana Yamada for KQED)<\/p>\n
Near the end of 2025, D\u2019Arcy Drollinger<\/a> thought she\u2019d have to close her nightclub for good. Despite an 11-year run as one of San Francisco\u2019s top drag<\/a> venues, Oasis<\/a> was barely scraping by, forcing Drollinger to dip into her personal retirement savings to keep the club afloat.<\/p>\n Grief swept through the Bay Area\u2019s queer community when Drollinger announced the impending closure last summer. But a surprise multi-million-dollar donation saved Oasis at the 11th hour. Silicon Valley philanthropists Mark and Mary Stevens, whose son, Sky, is an Oasis regular, stepped in to help secure Oasis\u2019 future just days before its final show on New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n Now, after seven months of renovations and long-term financial planning, Oasis will reopen its doors on July 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[We] get to not only survive, but build something that I hope becomes a legacy,\u201d Drollinger tells KQED on a recent visit to the club.<\/p>\n Less than 36 hours before Oasis\u2019 grand reopening, all hands are on deck. Drollinger and Greg Sottolano, the new executive director of the club\u2019s nonprofit arm, give interviews. Production manager Justin Denburg polishes disco balls. Designer Evan Favela applies final touch-ups to the black and gold murals on the walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, Oasis has gotten a facelift. Gold tiles now sparkle around the ticketbooth, and pink ruffled stage curtains exude the allure of a Broadway diva\u2019s boudoir. Upstairs, faux crocodile wallpaper completes this 8,000-square-foot shrine to all things camp and glamor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Such attention to detail is fitting for the only American nightclub of its size created for drag artists, by drag artists. It shows not only in the decor, but in Oasis\u2019 spacious, well-lit dressing rooms (a luxury for queens who\u2019ve had to apply wig glue in electrical closets). Its technical capabilities \u2014\u00a0including a light-up runway, 4K video wall and Steinway baby grand piano \u2014\u00a0allow artists to create the \u201cwow\u201d moments that send audiences\u2019 jaws to the floor and dollar bills flying through the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sottolano has hired a director of development to beef up fundraising efforts, and the nonprofit is in the process of purchasing its building. \u201cTruthfully we\u2019re one of the lucky ones. There\u2019s a lot of venues in San Francisco and, frankly, across the country who haven\u2019t had the same opportunity that we\u2019ve gotten,\u201d Sottolano says. \u201cWe take that responsibility really seriously, not just for the community that we serve here in San Francisco and the artists themselves, but also to hopefully be a beacon, a beacon of inspiration and a beacon of knowledge for other organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n Oasis had hosted its share of celebrities, including countless RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race winners and pop stars like Doja Cat, who threw a surprise album release party at the club last year. It\u2019s also nurtured local artists who\u2019ve ascended to bigger stages at Outside Lands and the Pink Block pride party.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a hub for people who have initiative and talent, and want to be on stage or behind the camera or making props,\u201d says Favela, who in addition to upgrading the club\u2019s interior also performs there regularly as Evian. \u201cI started six years ago as a waiter and now I\u2019m a full-time designer.\u201d<\/p>\n Oasis\u2019 calendar is already filling up with programming after its sold-out Grand Reveal <\/a>party on July 17. Princess<\/a>, the ultra-popular Saturday-night drag show, returns on July 18 with New York drag star Julie J, San Francisco collective Clutch the Pearls and more.<\/p>\n Out & Abt<\/a>, a lesbian-forward dance party, is back on July 24. On July 26, kinksters have a place to go for drinks during the leather and fetish celebration Dore Alley<\/a>. And on July 30, Drollinger will screen her film, Shit & Champagne<\/a>, based on the inaugural stage show she put on at Oasis when it opened in 2014.<\/p>\n Tito Soto, a drag artist and the producer of Princess, says he\u2019s excited for his party to return to its home venue.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very special venue to the whole city,\u201d Soto says. \u201cAnd the whole city was mourning its closure, and we get a second chance at this. I think it\u2019s a good reminder to everybody that we all need to pitch in to keep our queer spaces alive.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260716-OasisReopening-JY-02_qed.jpg\")
Production manager Justin Denburg polishes a disco ball at Oasis in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Oasis is set to reopen on July 17 after months of renovation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260716-OasisReopening-JY-03_qed.jpg\")
D\u2019Arcy Drollinger and Greg Sottolano pose for a portrait at Oasis in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, July 16, 2026.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260716-OasisReopening-JY-12_qed.jpg\")
Evan Favela, also known as Evian, touches up a mural at Oasis in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Favela is the club\u2019s interior designer. <\/p>\n