California College of the Arts

The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill


A generous endowment and whip-smart curators allow the Wattis Institute to take on ambitious, sweeping shows – for example, an exhibition reimagining books as pictures and performances. Shows are also occasionally hosted on campus by PLAySPACE, an experimental exhibition program organized by graduate students in the college's curatorial-studies program.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill attractions

1. Hosfelt Gallery

0.15 MILES

Trancelike states are often induced by Hosfelt, where visitors step from gritty sidewalks into dreamy, finely detailed interior worlds. Close inspection…

2. Catharine Clark Gallery

0.17 MILES

Art revolutions are instigated at Catharine Clark, a showcase for such gorgeous provocations as Masami Teraoka's paintings of superheroine geishas and…

3. Jack Fischer Gallery

0.21 MILES

Strange fascination is showcased at Jack Fischer Gallery – for example, sketches made by Agelio Batle's graphite skeleton as it jitters across a lab table…

4. SOMArts

0.41 MILES

All roads in San Francisco's art underground lead to this nonprofit creative community hub under a highway overpass. Shows have featured eviction letters…

5. Aesthetic Union

0.5 MILES

Upgrade from kitten posters to frame-worthy original SF artworks hand-printed in this working printmakers' studio. Watch prints pulled from a vintage…

6. Southern Exposure

0.6 MILES

Art really ties the room together at nonprofit arts center Southern Exposure, where works are carefully crafted not just with paint and canvas, but a…

7. Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District

0.64 MILES

San Francisco's Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District became official in June of 2018. District boundaries include Howard St (northwest), 7th St (northeast)…

8. 24th & York Mini Park

0.89 MILES

Take a ride on dazzling mosaic serpent-god Quetzalcoatl, who raises his fierce head from the rubberized ground of this pioneering pocket park…