More ways to learn at Gray Area this fall 🍂 Registration is now open for our Fall 2026 workshops and intensive courses, with classes spanning electronic music, projection mapping, decentralized technology, creative coding, hardware, and more. Here’s a closer look at some of what’s coming up: 🎛️ Machines & Ideas: Creative Electronic Music Production in Ableton Live 12 with Ryan Smith → Learn the tools of electronic music in Ableton Live 12, then learn to break them, developing your own approaches to composition, production, and performance. [Tuesdays, 6 – 9 PM | Sept 15 – Oct 6] 🌀 MadMapper 101: Projection Mapping for Immersive Environments with Sieanele Ponce → Learn the fundamentals of MadMapper and build projection-mapped environments that transform architecture, objects, and unconventional surfaces through image and light. [Wednesdays, 6 – 9 PM | Sept 30 – Oct 21] 🌐 Beyond Big Tech with Ayana Zaire Cotton, mai ishikawa sutton, Sarah Friend, Sarah Grant, and Nasir Anthony Montalvo → Explore data sovereignty, self-hosting, and the decentralized web while gaining hands-on experience building networked resources outside centralized tech infrastructure. [Oct 5 – Nov 12] 🌀 Vibecheck: Building 3D Generative and Interactive Art with AI with Kate Hollenbach → Build interactive 3D artwork for the web using three.js, combining vibecoding with direct authorship of code while developing your JavaScript coding literacy along the way. [Nov 2 – 23] 🏗️ Breadboarding Modular Synthesizers with Sean Hallowell → Build a playable instrument from the ground up using breadboarded oscillator and sequencing circuits to create synth melodies, rhythmic patterns, and live drum sequences. [Oct 5 & 7 | 6 – 9 PM] Featured DWeb projects: guacamaya net.work by jorge courtade Right to Belong by Joni Chan {B/qKC}: a Black queer archive by Nasir Anthony Montalvo, Anevay Martz, & Sunday Adesoye Adegbenro And there’s more coming soon 👀 Keep your Wednesdays open: we’ll be announcing a new community-driven weekly program for workshops, artist talks, and more. Explore our currently announced Fall 2026 classes and register now at grayarea.org/courses/

Scaling Intelligence: Modal x Gray Area AI Commissions opens NEXT Wednesday, October 28 at Gray Area. 13 artists debut new work built with AI and large-scale cloud computing, moving between scales that rarely meet: a satellite’s planetary view beside a microbial colony, the inside of a neural network opening onto forests and watersheds, a day of visitor conversation becoming a creature’s memory. Rather than using AI to make more of the same, these artists treat it as a translation layer, letting intelligences of vastly different sizes and speeds sense one another. @spencerc99's Free Agents reconnects us to the humanness within these AI systems and invites audiences to reflect on our relationship with them and how we want to define it moving forward. Drop in, play, and discover at opening night! 🌐 Opening Night Wednesday, Oct 28, 7-10 PM RSVP: luma.com/5j93bc4c 🕑 Exhibition Hours Thu, Oct 29: 2-6 PM Fri, Oct 30: 2-8 PM Sat, Oct 31: 1-8 PM Sun, Nov 1: 1-8 PM Visit:grayarea.org/exhibitions/sca… 📍Gray Area, 2665 Mission St, San Francisco Free admission, donations welcome

Scaling Intelligence: Modal x Gray Area AI Commissions opens NEXT Wednesday, October 28 at Gray Area. 13 artists debut new work built with AI and large-scale cloud computing, moving between scales that rarely meet: a satellite’s planetary view beside a microbial colony, the inside of a neural network opening onto forests and watersheds, a day of visitor conversation becoming a creature’s memory. Rather than using AI to make more of the same, these artists treat it as a translation layer, letting intelligences of vastly different sizes and speeds sense one another. @colin_odonnell and Justine Sun Dela Cruz’s “What is it like to be a river?” invites visitors to connect with nature through AI. With a tactile interface, they can send gentle ripples and shifts in flow back to the river itself, which are sensed and folded into the model in real time. Drop in and play with nature at opening night! 🌐 Opening Night Wednesday, Oct 28, 7-10 PM RSVP: luma.com/5j93bc4c 🕑 Exhibition Hours Thu, Oct 29: 2-6 PM Fri, Oct 30: 2-8 PM Sat, Oct 31: 1-8 PM Sun, Nov 1: 1-8 PM Visit: grayarea.org/exhibitions/sca… 📍Gray Area, 2665 Mission St, San Francisco Free admission, donations welcome

Last night’s Patch Bay workshop with Erik B. ⭐️

TOMORROW at Patch Bay: From Lore to Logic: Building Interactive Worlds with AI + Figma, led by Erik B. In this hands-on workshop, Erik B. will lead from story and concept to working prototype using Figma, AI, and vibe coding. Using his civic simulation project Supertino as a case study, we’ll build out the storyboard, UX, narrative, characters, and visual assets, team up with a large language model to turn behaviors and interactions into code and logic, and bring it all together into an interactive prototype. We’ll wrap with Q&A, troubleshooting, and an honest conversation about where these tools shine, where they break, and how to use them more intentionally. Come through tomorrow night and build something with us! 📅 Wednesday, October 21 🕕 6 PM 📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater 🔗RSVP at luma.com/vi6p9wpc Patch Bay is a new Wednesday night series for media artists, creative technologists, and anyone looking to get hands-on with emerging technology, exchange ideas, and connect with the Bay Area creative community. 💭 Have an idea for a future Patch Bay session? We especially want to hear from people looking for a place to share bold, critical, and creative work. Send us a note at [email protected]

What happens when artists get access to compute at the scale industry runs on? Scaling Intelligence: Modal x Gray Area AI Commissions opens Wednesday, October 28 at Gray Area. 13 artists debut new work built with AI and large-scale cloud computing, moving between scales that rarely meet: a satellite’s planetary view beside a microbial colony, the inside of a neural network opening onto forests and watersheds, a day of visitor conversation becoming a creature’s memory. Rather than using AI to make more of the same, these artists treat it as a translation layer, letting intelligences of vastly different sizes and speeds sense one another. Of those 13 artists, @iragreenberg presents Protobyte Phylogeny, a living ecosystem of artificial organisms evolving in real time. Evolve your own specimen at the bench and the population at the close of the show will be partly descended from you. Stop by and become part of the ecosystem! 🌐 Opening Night Wednesday, Oct 28, 7-10 PM RSVP: luma.com/5j93bc4c 🕑 Exhibition Hours Thu, Oct 29: 2-6 PM Fri, Oct 30: 2-8 PM Sat, Oct 31: 1-8 PM Sun, Nov 1: 1-8 PM Visit: grayarea.org/exhibitions/sca… 📍Gray Area, 2665 Mission St, San Francisco Free admission, donations welcome

There’s still time to add your voice. Now through November 4 , the free, bilingual 4th Wall app lets you view Nancy Baker Cahill's FREE in AR from San Francisco's waterfront or from anywhere in the world. A love letter to those imprisoned and suffering without justice, write a message of solidarity for anyone held in detention in the United States and see as each message becomes part of a conversation that keeps growing. Learn more at grayarea.org/.../nancy-baker… 🕊️

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first ever Patch Bay ⭐️ and thank you once again to @hanryss and Tori Sommerhof for kicking us off! Patch Bay is a new weekly series to get hands-on with emerging tech and creativity as well as connect with media artists, designers, and engineers within the community. 📅 Every Wednesday, 6-9 PM 🎟️ Sliding scale, NOTAFLOF 💡 Got an idea for a session? We want to hear it! Email us at [email protected] Next up: a hands-on workshop with Erik B. on using Figma, AI, and vibe coding to turn a story into a working interactive prototype. See you Wednesday 🌁

🕑 Exhibition Hours: Thu, Oct 29: 2–6 PM Fri, Oct 30: 2–8 PM Sat, Oct 31: 1–8 PM Sun, Nov 1: 1–8 PM Visit: grayarea.org/exhibitions/sca… 📍Gray Area, 2665 Mission St, San Francisco Free admission, donations welcome

What happens when artists get access to compute at the scale industry runs on? Scaling Intelligence: Modal x Gray Area AI Commissions opens Wednesday, October 28 at Gray Area. Thirteen artists debut new work built with AI and large-scale cloud computing, moving between scales that rarely meet: a satellite’s planetary view beside a microbial colony, the inside of a neural network opening onto forests and watersheds, a day of visitor conversation becoming a creature’s memory. Rather than using AI to make more of the same, these artists treat it as a translation layer, letting intelligences of vastly different sizes and speeds sense one another. Featuring @CezarMocan @colin_odonnell + Justine Sun Dela Cruz + Will Gardiner @graysonearle @ideeplistening @iragreenberg @TinaPulejkova @xMiguelNovelo @pkmital @rashedhaq Sasha Sorokina @spencerc99 Presented in partnership with @modal 🌐 Opening Night Wednesday, Oct 28, 7–10 PM RSVP: luma.com/5j93bc4c #ScalingIntelligence #GrayArea #AIArt #NewMediaArt #SanFrancisco

Meet @hanryss, the artist behind Dreaming Babies: illi. Drawn from real genetic data, each simulated baby represents a different human chromosome, inviting you to consider the hidden potential within our genetic code. Catch the exhibition before it closes on the 19th and hear more about Han’s work at Gray Area's new weekly series, Patch Bay alongside fellow exhibiting artist Tori Sommerhof. Stop by at tonight's event for artist talks, conversation, and happy hour, and explore Han’s exhibition, which is open during events and by appointment. 📅 Tonight, October 14 🕕 6 PM 📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater 🔗RSVP at luma.com/gscsaj0j 💭 Have an idea for a future Patch Bay session? We especially want to hear from people looking for a place to share bold, critical, and creative work. Send us a note at [email protected]

We’re grateful to be among this year’s grantees supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) and Grants for the Arts (GFTA)! Together, SFAC and GFTA are awarding 465 grants totaling $25.26 million to 393 artists and arts organizations across San Francisco. This support helps us continue our exhibitions, education, and public programs, and we’re proud to be part of a citywide investment in San Francisco’s creative community ⭐️

TOMORROW ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Xiu Xiu last night at Gray Area ⭐️

Have you ever thought of what babies will look like in the future? 👼 This is the central question for Yoon Chung Han’s 'Dreaming Babies: illi'—an interactive, immersive solo exhibition currently on view in the Gray Area Gallery. Han has brought to life 23 virtual babies, each a special human hybrid with a different chromosomal abnormality. After undergoing egg retrieval and PGT, Han faced the question of what makes an embryo "normal" and whether those deemed "abnormal" should be discarded. This AI-based installation reimagines the genome not as a site of pathology, but of imagination and mythology. Each chromosome given a name, an alter ego, and a poetic superpower. By naming what society often silences, the work challenges the stigma around disability and genetic difference, dissolving the line between what is considered "normal" and "abnormal" and offering difference as a generative force for new identities, perspectives, and forms of beauty. Exhibition visits are open during events and by appointment. Shoot us an email to let us know when you’d like to stop by. 📅 September 17 – October 19 📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater, San Francisco 🔗Learn more at grayarea.org/event/exhibitio…

Derrick Gee’s Radio Hour at Gray Area 🖤

Introducing Patch Bay, a new Wednesday night series for media artists, creative technologists, and anyone looking to get hands-on with emerging technology, exchange ideas, and connect with the Bay Area creative community. For our inaugural session on October 14, current exhibiting artists Yoon Chung Han and Tori Sommerhof take us inside their works now on view at Gray Area. Han will discuss Dreaming Babies: illi, her solo exhibition transforming the gallery into a speculative nursery of 23 virtual babies drawn from genetic data. Sommerhof will share Requiem Aternum, an experimental found-media film currently screening as part of our new Machine Vitrine spotlight series. Come by for artist talks, conversation, and happy hour 🫧 📅 Wednesday, October 14 🕕 6 PM 📍 Gray Area / Grand Theater 🔗RSVP at luma.com/gscsaj0j 💭 Have an idea for a future Patch Bay session? We especially want to hear from people looking for a place to share bold, critical, and creative work. Send us a note at [email protected]

Next week, 𝗨𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦: 𝘈 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 & 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘶𝘮 ✨ Across two days of live music, film, conversation, and archival media, Unseen Visions brings together voices from New Age, ambient music, visionary film, and West Coast counterculture. It's the brainchild of our friend Jacob Smith, professor at Northwestern University, made in support of his forthcoming book 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦: 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘴 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘳𝘵 (University of California Press). Lineup: Erik Davis @katepple @StevenHalpern Ken Jenkins Larkin @robertrichmusic Jacob Smith …plus screenings of films by Jordan Belson, Dorothy Fadiman, and Rowena Pattee Kryder Swing by for two days of ambient music, film, conversation, and more! 📅 Fri-Sat, Oct 9-10 📍Gray Area / Grand Theater, San Francisco 🎟️ Tickets: grayarea.org/event/unseen-vi…