Commune
Storefront Gallery · Performance Space · Civic Archive
I've been coming here since before the coffee shop was a coffee shop. They gave my daughter her first stage. That matters more than I can say.
Marcus T.
Guerrero & 18th · Attendee since 2019 · Block resident since 1987
February 2026
What Happens Here
A Root System,
Not One Program.
Every program is free. Every door is open. The work accumulates — seven years of it, layer by layer, like wheat paste on a telephone pole.
Youth Mural Project
Fourteen young artists, ages 12–18, transformed the rear wall of the Valencia Street corridor into a 60-foot chronicle of neighborhood memory. Eight Saturdays, no experience required.
Elder Oral Histories
140 recorded testimonies. 140 voices that would otherwise go unarchived.
Open Mic Fridays
Standing room only. No sign-up deadline. The mic is always open.
Teaching Artist Residencies
Three-month paid residencies for artists who teach. Free workshops for the block.
140+
Oral histories archived
7
Years, free and open
60ft
Of mural, this season
52
Open mics per year
Selena Marín
Teaching Artist · In Residence 2025
Background
Textile artist and muralist. Raised in the Mission, studied at SFAI. Has led workshops at Commune every quarter since 2022.
"The kids don't come for the art.
They come for the room."
Commune: How do you describe what you do here to someone who's never come in?
Selena: I tell them it's a Saturday morning in a place that doesn't ask anything of you. You can make something bad. You can make nothing. You can just sit there and watch somebody else make something. That's the whole point.
The mural that went up in January — that was fourteen kids who had never held a brush in their life eight weeks earlier. By week three they were arguing about color theory. That's not because of me. That's because the space gave them permission.
Commune: What would stop if the funding stopped?
Selena: The Saturday workshops would stop first. Supplies aren't free. My time isn't free — and I give a lot of it. What you're really funding when you donate isn't the paint. It's the fact that the door is still open at nine in the morning for a twelve-year-old who needs somewhere to be.
"What you're really funding is the fact that the door is still open at nine in the morning."
Upcoming
What's On
the Block
Mar
2026
FEB
28
Fri
Open Mic Night
7:00 PM
MAR
01
Sat
Youth Workshop: Collage & Memory
9:00 AM
MAR
06
Thu
Reading: New Voices in Queer Poetics
6:30 PM
MAR
08
Sat
Oral History Recording Session
2:00 PM
MAR
13
Thu
Film Screening: Neighborhood Docs
7:00 PM
MAR
15
Sat
Youth Workshop: Printmaking Basics
9:00 AM
MAR
21
Fri
Open Mic Night
7:00 PM
MAR
22
Sat
Mural Unveiling: Valencia Corridor
11:00 AM
All events free and open-door. No registration required unless noted.
Within Ten Blocks
Our Neighbors
Commune (Home)
Valencia & 20th
Gallery + Stage
Alley Cat Books
3036 24th St
Reading Partner
The Lab
2948 16th St
Exhibition Partner
Brava Theater
2781 24th St
Performance Partner
Mission Cultural Center
2868 Mission St
Archive Partner
Clarion Alley
Clarion Alley
Mural Site
"You can walk the whole network in under twenty minutes. That's the point — it's not a destination, it's a neighborhood."
Give What You Can
Keep the
Door Open
Every program is free because someone gave. You don't have to be rich to be a neighbor. You just have to show up.
This gives: Funds one oral history recording session
Commune is a registered 501(c)(3). Your gift is tax-deductible.
"I gave $40 a month for two years before I ever walked in the door. When I finally did, I already knew it."
— Jamie R., donor since 2021, Noe Valley