WAVE: Popup to Permanent Space!

It can be hard to break into the art world, especially in San Francisco. At WAVE Collective, we focus on supporting emerging, independent San Francisco artists, creatives and makers. We are a 100% volunteer-run art gallery and event space that has been offering free space to other creatives. We're a place for artists and lovers of art to come together, share their passions, and build creative community in San Francisco.

We (Jenna Melnyk and Jamila Keba) started WAVE as a popup, but quickly realized that it should become a permanent space. The support we've received from friends, strangers, and the neighborhood has shown us how vital spaces like this are. We are both artists ourselves with full-time jobs to pay the bills. Starting WAVE has become a second unpaid, full-time job for each of us on nights and weekends. We do it because we're passionate about this project.

District Commons, a local 501(c)(3) non-profit, has generously been letting WAVE use one of their Community Free Spaces rent-free to get the project off the ground. However, starting in May, we will need to start paying for rent, utilities, liability insurance, and all the other things that come with running a business. For now, we are just trying to fundraise for these operating expenses so that we can keep providing affordable space to artists. We will still be volunteering our time for the project! We don't expect to reach our goal by May, but any amount will help offset fees to artists.

Testimonials:

“They have connected creatives from all over the city in the fields of visual arts, music, food, drawing, you name it... and the intersections generated are quite impressive.” — Angelica Turner, Artist

“With the help of WAVE, I was able to turn my passion for baking macarons into a thriving seasonal business. The art fairs have been an excellent source of advice, feedback, and word-of-mouth marketing for me.” — Lucy Dotson, Lu’s Sweet Tooth

“Having space & time to show my project was incredible. It’s vital for artists to share their work and Wave has created space for artists & community to bloom” — Abby Banks, Artist

“I had been looking for a way to try out my idea to provide a place, tools, resources, and inspirations for mending and WAVE allowed me to prototype my ideas without taking on huge risks or financial burdens. I learned so much from the experience and am looking forward to growing the Mending Library with the confidence that I’ve gained from hosting it at WAVE!” — Phoebe Schenker, The Mending Library

“WAVE Collective is the f*cking best, they put together a first amazing show and kept the space very alive and active, filling it with live music, dinner parties, drawing sessions, a kombucha class, DJ lessons- you name it, they had it! WAVE Collective is a real community space where not only the art lives and breaths but the people too. I can't thank them enough for making this wonderful space.” — Elliott Alexander, Artist

“Thank you to WAVE Collective for being our very generous hosts! It has been such an honor to be able to experiment with different activities and events.” — Victoria Campa, Counter Photo Collective

“... a beautiful collective art space that serves as both a gallery for emerging artists and a community event space. Very inclusive, creative people, and lots of fun events/offerings that are free. Exactly what SF needs! <3” — Jilleen Ward, Patron

“So many fun events happening all the time! Anything from music to art to dinners to workshops (like making kombucha), to meetups. So happy a space like this exists!” — Olga Azarova, Patron