Welcome to Edge on the Square, the contemporary art hub located at the heart of San Francisco Chinatown. Our year-round programming is designed to bring together creators and educators for a well-rounded cultural experience. Our space welcomes Asian American artists for our twice annual art exhibitions and our signature annual contemporary art festival, as well as music events and community gatherings that foster cultural exchange and understanding.
We are passionate about providing a platform for Asian American artists to showcase their work and we are proud to support local merchants in the process. Our goal is to inspire and engage visitors through our diverse range of events and programming. Come and explore Chinatown with us through art!
Exhibition Opening
+ Panel Talk
Thursday, March 27, 2025 | 5:00 PM
Edge on the Square is proud to present our next exhibition All Eyes On Us: Invention & Ingenuity During Artistic Diasporas. At a moment when immigration is at the forefront of our nation’s geopolitics, All Eyes on Us shines a timely spotlight on the unique and forceful moves that immigrant artists make to negotiate the fraught yet fertile spaces of diaspora.
For the opening celebration of All Eyes On Us, Edge presents an Artist Panel featuring these “hidden dragons,” moderated by Edge Head Curator Candace Huey. The panel explores the histories of these artists: their stories of resilience, and what it means to be visible as they emerge into the light.
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Culinary Series
October 19, 2024 - May 2025
MSG: Making, Sharing, Gathering is an interactive culinary series that invites participants to examine the anthropology of food via cooking rituals and traditions from the Asian American culinary landscape. Through their personal narratives, six Bay Area culinary stars demonstrate how food is a potent cultural practice. These monthly workshops entail unique experiences that celebrate the cuisine of the Asian diaspora, blending nourishment and creativity, resilience and reclamation.
Our Theory of Change
Edge shifts the dominant narrative of the immigrant experience by:
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Expanding knowledge and awareness of a “critical” immigrant story
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Being a strong voice for immigrants with an uplifting narrative
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Being the touchstone that holds the brand and a welcoming space to spark dialogues
Edge will become a sustainable socio-economic engine for Chinatown by:
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Providing stellar programs that motivate the public to visit, explore, and experience Chinatown
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Engaging with communities to build relationships and networks that amplify our collective voice and power
Edge widens the aperture of the human experience through:
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Empowerment, creativity, and optimism
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Sharpening tools to initiate and engage in meaningful discourse, build self-awareness, exercise agency, and activate social transformation
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Promoting attitudes of inclusivity, cultural curiosity, constructive exchange
Land Acknowledgement
Edge on the Square, situated in the vibrant heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, stands at the crossroads of history and culture. We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we stand is the ancestral and unceded lands of the Ramaytush Ohlone People who have stewarded this land throughout the generations. We recognize the historic discrimination and violence inflicted upon Indigenous peoples in California and the Americas. We also recognize the historical significance of this land to the diverse Chinese immigrant communities who have contributed to the rich cultural tapestry of San Francisco. We offer our deepest respect to the Ramaytush Ohlone as first peoples and express gratitude to the generations of Chinese Americans who have made this community thrive.
