Our ethos

The San Francisco Artists Union is a resurrection of an old idea — that artists benefit more from working together than working in pure solitude. We're a free, private community built on the belief that making art in San Francisco (or anywhere) is hard enough without having to navigate it alone. We're here to share resources, swap intel, ask questions in a safe space, and remind each other that the work is worth doing.

We're eclectic by design. Painters, musicians, potters, dancers, illustrators, comedians, sculptors, photographers… if you're actively making something and you're rooted in this city, there's likely a place for you here. We've found that the most useful conversations happen across disciplines, not within them.

That said, we do have a sense of what this community is and isn't. We're a supportive and inclusive space, and we ask that the work our members make reflects that spirit. We don't extend membership to artists whose work traffics in hate speech, harassment, abuse, or explicit sexual content. This isn't a statement about art in general — it's about what this community stands for. What we stand for is curiosity, craft, respect, generosity, kindness, and a sense of humor about all of it.

"New Deal Artists and Programs During the Depression". www.foundsf.org. Retrieved 10 Jul 2026.