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Gray Area Revives the Historic Grand Cinema with a New Art & Technology Theater in San Francisco.

After two years of research and development, Gray Area is pleased to announce a permanent home in the Mission District at The Grand Theater, a former 870-seat single screen cinema built in 1940.

“Rehabilitating the Grand Theater marks our renewed commitment to serve as a media arts organization that creates jobs, and a technology lab that fosters community.” Josette Melchor, Executive Director continues, “Gray Area’s Cultural Incubator will enable new practices and modes of production, providing immense civic value and catalyzing economic innovation in San Francisco.“

Last year, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Gray Area $100,000 to develop an immersive theater for experimental surround cinema with Recombinant Media Labs. While the grant allowed for us to secure this historic building, we will be raising additional funds from our community and institutional partners.

Why Does This Matter?

The current real estate market is pricing cultural organizations out of San Francisco. This campaign brings back a historic cinema to the creative community at a critical time in the city’s history.

In the heart of the Mission District, Gray Area Foundation has signed a 10 year lease for the 10,000 square foot Grand Theater.

The project seeks to immerse thousands of people with unforgettable experiences and inspire them to see our world differently.

San Francisco’s rich history and intense energy can serve as fertile ground for arts and technology communities to sit down at the table to collaborate.

Building Architecture & Design

Gray Area is proud to partner with architecture firm Envelope Architecture + Design. The team behind the successful PROXY, a Hayes Valley two-block construct that imagines a vibrant focal point for commerce and community. The project utilized mixed use shipping containers to transform a vacant parking lot into a cultural hub.

In order to renovate the Grand Theater, Envelope A+D has produced compelling designs that celebrate the historic landmark’s identity while bringing flexibility and modularity to optimize the large open space.

You Are Invited

Artists have always worked with new materials and technologies. Now consider what a moment this is for contemporary artists as they embrace the world of code, data, and sensors.

From the early Experiments in Art and Technology to modern incubator spaces, cross-industry collaborations help us reimagine the society we live in and the way we express ourselves within it.

As we have learned through the last 7 years at Gray Area, the emergence of a cultural movement stems from a series of improvisations, collisions, and accidents. Adjacent ideas need to meet, dance with each other to eventually find a rhythm through which they can evolve, become one and perform.

Gray Area’s Art & Technology Theater is the stage for imagination and exploration. It is a sandbox for multiple communities to explore, learn, shape new perspectives, think, and create together.

The Art and Technology Theater is 10,000 square feet of possibilities. There are classrooms to learn, a cinema to experience and share, a large open space to meet and collaborate, desks and studios to move forward.

Thank you to our Donors!

Proscenium Donors
  • Heron Arts
  • National Endowment for the Arts
  • Northern California Community Loan Fund
  • Jonathan Dinu
  • Di-Ann Eisnor
  • Alexander Lloyd
  • Peter Hirshberg
  • Wilhelm Family Foundation
  • Kenneth Rainin Foundation
  • New Relic
Lightbox Donors
  • Chris Delbuck
  • Julie Delbuck
  • Zendesk
  • Andrew Swerdlow
  • Skycatch
Lobby Donors
  • Larry Cuba
  • Tracy Scott
  • David G Yu
  • Jeffrey Wilk
  • Micah Elizabeth Scott
  • Robert Lindsay
  • Chris Osborn
  • Uwe Maurer
  • Joseph Gratz
  • Dinah Sanders
  • Mikko Jarvenpaa
  • Shift Design
  • Max Weisel
  • Barry Threw
  • Chloe Sladden
  • Karen H. Wickre
  • Annalee Newitz
  • Jane Metcalfe
  • Emily Clare Weisensee
Projection Donors
  • Colin Klingman
  • Jacob Maizel
  • Ben McChesney
  • Charles Kwong
  • Aaron Koblin
  • George Sylvain
  • Abla Hamilton
  • Jonathan Brandel
  • Kyle Warren
  • Wesley Smith
  • Alice Neels
Showtime Donors
  • Ray McClure
  • Tim Roseborough
  • Joanna Cheung
  • Alexander Randon
  • George Zisiadis
  • May-Li Khoe
  • Scott Minneman
  • Octavian Drulea
  • Brent Townshend
  • Will Francis
  • William Bradford Rocheleau
  • Cianna Stewart
  • Shane A. Myrbeck
  • Matthew Stepka
  • Jenny Ma
  • Tarwin Stroh-Spijer
  • Natalie Villalobos
  • Jane Dulay
  • Dijital Fix
  • Andrew Eland
  • Stephen Altamirano
  • Justin Young
  • Jasper Speicher
  • Shawn Drost
  • Issac Roth
  • CTP
  • We Love Colors
  • Girts Folkmanis
  • Michael Ordoyne
  • Matt Zimmerman
  • DorkbotSF
  • Phil Reyneri
  • Ivan O'Neill
  • Bill Thibault
  • Camille Utterback
  • Larry Cuba
  • Benjamin McChesney
  • Zach Verdin
  • David C. King
  • Paige Saez
  • Eve Zaritsky
  • Matt Hill
  • Carr Wilkerson
  • Diwaker Gupta
  • Jason Snell
  • Sha Hwang
  • Kristin Sloan
  • Ben Harper Hulan
  • Christopher Worrall
Marquee Donors
  • Anonymous
  • Anonymous
  • Christopher R. Palmer
  • Michael Gratton
  • Justin Baum
  • Melissa Burnley
  • Toby Lewis
  • Eva Swanson
  • Erik Vander Molen
  • Douglas Murray
  • Gleb Denisov
  • Christina Chatfield
  • Sascha Retailleau
  • Vanha Lam
  • Hiroaki Yamane
  • Roderick Hogan
  • Mark Y. Goh
  • Shauna Lawhorne-Goh
  • Travis Bennett
  • Leslie Payne
  • Chris Gore
  • Jovial
  • Sara Kraft
  • Aaron Master
  • Christopher Schardt
  • Francesco Salizzoni
  • Axelle Tessandier
  • Josh Michaels
  • Tomo Saito
  • Michal Habdank-Kolaczkowski
  • Roderick Mann
  • Danielle Engelman
  • Jose Miguel Hernandez
  • Sean Mulholland
  • Willa Koerner
  • Dan Rosenfeld
  • Beau Trincia
  • Josh Silverman
  • Boaz Gurdin
  • Steve Teeple
  • Heather Campbell
  • Ina Yosun Chang
  • John Capogna
  • Avner Shilo
  • Taurin Barrera
  • Josh Santangelo
  • Jenny Ma
  • Jordan Presnick
  • LUSKA
  • Adam Carlucci
  • Ian Johnson
  • The Butterfly Joint
  • JJ Weber
  • Clay Woolam
  • Kyle Machulis
  • Dave Augustine
  • David Huerta
  • Colin Sebestyen
  • RJ Ramey
  • Allison McCabe
  • Mindy Seu
  • Gretchen Wustrack
  • Zachery Shivers
  • Martin Middleton
  • Noémie Girard
  • Stephen Cady
  • Hugh Kennedy
  • Yorgos Sofianatos
  • James Gray
  • George Oates
  • Chul Yim
  • Taraneh Hemami
  • Andrew Thomas
  • Mahtab Ghamsari
  • Hilary Hoeber
  • Kevin Broch
  • Peter Nyboer
  • Steve Pepple
  • Robin Bruns Worona
  • Cory Barr
  • Daniel Sullivan
  • Gina Restani
  • Sam Shoulders
  • Lucas J. Shuman
  • Ricardo Aguilar
  • John Duncan Graham
  • Cynthia Yang
  • Corinne Onetto
  • Copic & Spoonhower
  • Philia Beroud
  • Sibylle Scholz
  • Sibylle Scholz
  • Fred Gallart
  • Catherine L. White
  • Tim Jones
  • Brett Bowman
  • Alexander Ryan
  • Kent Long
  • Vanessa O'Neill
  • Micah Snyder
  • Jeffrey Kalmikoff
  • Gijs Burgmeijer
  • Sohan Murthy
  • James Reynolds
  • Brady Forrest
  • Tom Knoblock
  • Phillip Fillastre
  • Michael Rotondo
  • Nasrin Tina Erdelyi
  • Jeffrey Wear
  • Paula Levine
  • Robert Coli
  • Judy Graboyes
  • Vivek Krishnan
  • Brian Hawthorne
  • Mathieu Reeves
  • Michael Ang
  • Kristin Henry
  • Fay Darmawi
  • Joshua Bingham
  • Andrea Baker Consulting
  • Jeff Meyer
  • Ari Salomon
  • Yoriko Yamamoto
  • Tom W Carden
  • Mark Hellar
  • Michael Rolph
  • Lara Grant
  • Emina Reissinger
  • Robert Cezar Matei
  • Nicole Hughes
  • Dav Yaginuma
  • Ray McClure
  • Keir Winesmith
  • Ed Hickey
  • Lucas Carrico
  • Jennie-Sue Nuccio
  • Sophie Lamparter
  • Eric Socolofsky
  • Tarwin Stroh-Spijer
  • Todd Gage
  • Liz Dizon
  • Sebastien Roux
  • Matthew Bryan Waxman
  • Joshua Jenkins
  • Amanda Dunn Warnow
  • Kevin M Bell
  • Adam Florin
  • Holger Struppek
  • Daniel C. Silverstein
  • Isaac Gierard
  • Jonathan Foote
  • Benjy Weinberger
  • Cindy Lou Rosser
  • John Mertens
  • Casey Reas
  • Joy Phoenix
  • Scott Kildall
  • James Gray
  • Kari Gray
  • David Addington
  • Jamie Addington
  • Amelia Addington
  • Augustus Addington
  • Archer Addington
  • Luis Flores
  • Omnivore Books
  • Thorsten Sideboard
Friend and Fan Donors
  • Ilana Segall
  • Gregory Sutter
  • Dan Rademacher
  • Cheong Eng
  • Ben Marx
  • Griffin Crafts
  • Mike Jacobs
  • Catherine Miller
  • Colin Roache
  • Paul Mans
  • Jackie Jakob
  • Owen Rochte
  • Steve Pepple
  • Leah Edwards
  • Fumiko Docker
  • Gabriela Hasbun
  • Tobias Schachman
  • Lincoln Nguyen
  • Herbert Han-Pu Wang
  • Jeff Nusz
  • Matt Tytel
  • Molly Anderson
  • Dennis Rosenfeld
  • Shane Wasley
  • Jamie Piazza
  • Gabriel Dunne
  • Charlotte Gubler
  • CM Lee
  • Lindsay Baker
  • Brian Overland
  • Cole Roberts
  • Samuel Hamner
  • Andrew Kleindolph
  • Jonathan Lazatin
  • Maryanna Rogers
  • Sheldon Smith
  • Sheldon Smith
  • Rami Alayan
  • Mikael Gramont
  • Sam Valenti
  • Katie Taylor
  • Laura Kogler
  • Ievgen Tiutiunnyk
  • Jason Hu
  • Edward Kaplan
  • John F. Levin
  • Elizabeth Traver Kukka
  • Patrick Driscoll
  • Zachary Kramer
  • Jesse Cotari
  • Claudia Miranda
  • Ian Heisters
  • Hugh Reynolds
  • Stephen Cady
  • Maria I. Mendoza
  • Jessie Van Roechoudt
  • Jessie Van Roechoudt
  • Mark Scheeff
  • Clark Suprynowicz
  • Cullen Miller
  • Jason Woloz
  • Alan Weathers
  • Olivia Kingsley
  • Juraj Mihalik
  • Anthony Ciannamea
  • Monique Motil
  • Michael Brown
  • Krista Canellakis
  • Ian deBoisblanc
  • Kjell Bronder
  • Michael Prados
  • Ryan Alexander
  • Robin Sloan
  • Maria Grineva
  • Jane Philipps
  • Will Wolcott
  • Jenny Ma
  • Andy Levine
  • Julie Talma
  • Alicia Preston
  • Simon Chaffetz
  • Lucy Bernholz
  • Judith Mayer
  • Natalie Foster
  • Clayton Mellina
  • Joseph Chow
  • Scott Snibbe
  • JJ Weber
  • Jack Doherty
  • Jey Kottalam
  • Paul Green
  • Lukas Bergstrom
  • Ed Hickey
  • Deborah Yoon
  • William Mintz Fields
  • Eric Nguyen
  • Molly Wilson
  • Casey Callendrello
  • Robin Van Den Oever
  • Jon Currey
  • Vanessa Li