Situated on the waterfront with views of Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island, the San Francisco Art Fair offers an experience that goes far beyond the vast selection of contemporary art on display in the Fort Mason Pavilion. The 13th annual event will feature 85 local, national and international galleries, including a special curated section dedicated specifically to East Bay artists and galleries. If you need to cleanse your palette—or
whet your appetite—after making your initial rounds at the fair, step outside the fair pavilion and enjoy the salty breeze coming off of the bay or explore the Fort Mason Center for the Arts & Culture complex, where art galleries, retail shops, hip dining options and arts organizations populate the historic warehouses. You’ll be ready to return to the fair in no time to continue to explore the dynamic artwork presented by Bay Area galleries like Jessica Silverman, who will showcase works by prominent local artists Clare Rojas and Chelsea Ryoko Wong; Anthony Meier, who will exhibit paintings by Pacifica-based Saif Azzuz and wood sculptures by San Francisco-based Jesse Schlesinger; and Micki Meng. The San Francisco Art Fair will feature many first-time participants from the Bay Area, as well as numerous returnees, including Andrea Schwartz Gallery,
Eleanor Harwood Gallery, Marrow Gallery, Nancy Toomey Fine Art, Scott Richards Contemporary Art and pt.2 Gallery, whose founder, Brock Brake, is the curator of the section of the fair focused on the vibrancy of the East Bay arts community. Also returning from San Francisco is Studio Shop Gallery, one of California’s oldest art galleries, which celebrates their 115th anniversary in 2025. Other notable galleries returning from across the U.S. include New Orleans’ Ferrara Showman and St. Louis- based Duane Reed Gallery. Other galleries hail from other parts of the West including Billis Williams Gallery (Los Angeles), Winston Wächter Fine Art
(Seattle) and Ocotillo Gallery (Phoenix). The fair’s reach also extends internationally to Canada, Europe and South Korea. “The fair is an opportunity to see what our gallerists are inspired by, a time for artists to meet important collectors and build fans of their work, and for voices from the art world to come together to speak to pressing topics,” says event director Kelly Freeman, adding that attendees can expect conversations around identity, technology, East Bay creativity, the artistic process and more, “with voices from the best of the Bay
Area and art community at large.” The San Francisco Art Fair runs Thursday, April 17 through Sunday, April
20 with a VIP and press preview on opening day from 4 to 6 p.m. “The fair’s buzzing opening is a yearly reminder of the real passion the Bay Area holds for the arts,” says Freeman. “I love walking around the marina over the weekend overhearing folks talking about their plans to attend the fair—it always makes me feel like we have really built something authentically Bay Area that’s really owned by its community.”