Alumni-Founded The Lab: One of Bay Area's Most Adventurous Artist-Centered Spaces

ARTSY -- Founded in 1984 by Art students from San Francisco State University, The Lab is one of the most adventurous artist-centered spaces in the Bay Area. Located in the historic Redstone building in San Francisco’s Mission District, The Lab, as director Dena Beard explains, gives artists “complete license to take risks and push the boundaries of their practice, allowing them to transform and change the Lab with each new project.” This takes the form of three commissioned projects per year where artists receive a large stipend, keys to the space, access to the Lab’s website, and the option to take over or revise all of the organization’s operations. W.A.G.E. certified, fair compensation for artists is a key tenet of The Lab’s mission, as it designates over a third of its budget annually to the primarily local artists it works with.