Venues
Host your event inside one of the West Coast's leading contemporary art galleries. Established in 1991 and expanded in 2023 into a 9,000+ square-foot industrial space in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood, Catharine Clark Gallery opens approximately 3,500 square feet of usable event space for private rental. The footprint covers a North Gallery, a South Gallery, a sound-baffled Media Room that doubles as a green room, a foyer with coat rack, a fully working kitchen with stove, oven, microwave, dishwasher and catering prep tables, and two wheelchair-accessible bathrooms. The EXiT boutique can be folded into the buyout or rented separately, depending on guest count and event format.
The look reads industrial-modern with a gallery's elegance. Smooth concrete throughout - the only exception is the Media Room, which is carpeted and sound-baffled so it works equally well as a quiet breakout, a backstage green room or an intimate screening space. The architecture is light, airy and column-free in the main galleries, giving you a clean rectangular footprint for dinners, receptions, performances, fashion presentations, product launches, panel talks, screenings, holiday parties, fundraisers and creative productions.
Why hosts pick this space.
A few practical advantages set this venue apart. There are no residential neighbors in the building, which means there are effectively no noise restrictions - bring a DJ, a band, an amplified speaker or a dance floor and play your own music. Events can run until midnight. The minimum rental is three hours, which gives you flexibility on a tightly-scoped evening reception or a longer day-into-night corporate event. The building has ample parking, particularly on weekends and after 5pm, with free on-street parking on Utah Street plus paid lots at 101 Utah and 48 Vermont. Public transit includes the 16th Street Mission BART station (0.7 mi), the 22nd Street Caltrain station (1 mi) and multiple Muni stops within a 10-minute walk.
Capacity and configuration.
The whole-venue Evening Rental seats up to 50 guests and holds up to 100 standing. Because the floor plan is open and modular, configurations easily include a seated dinner with a long communal table, cocktail rounds with a separate seated bar, a panel-talk lecture row paired with a reception zone in the second gallery, or a performance layout with the Media Room as backstage. Wi-Fi is available throughout, natural light comes in through the storefront, and there is dedicated storage space for client equipment and supplies.
What's included.
Every Evening Rental includes a Gallery staff member on site for the duration of your event, assistance with basic setup and cleanup, full kitchen use (dishwasher and refrigerator included), the foyer coat rack, and the two ADA-accessible bathrooms. You may bring your own caterer, plan a fully BYO bar, or both - external catering and BYO alcohol are both allowed. The venue does not provide in-house catering or alcohol, which keeps menu and beverage costs entirely in your hands.
Pricing.
The Evening Rental is offered at four hundred dollars per hour with a three-hour minimum, so the floor for any rental is twelve hundred dollars in space hire. A one-time two-hundred-and-eighty-dollar cleaning fee applies. There is no in-house catering minimum and no F&B markup. For longer rentals, full-day buyouts, or combining EXiT into the footprint, the gallery prepares custom quotes - contact gallery owner and Founding Director Catharine Clark directly.
About the gallery.
Catharine Clark Gallery has represented an internationally exhibited roster of contemporary artists since 1991, including Masami Teraoka, Stephanie Syjuco, Marie Watt, Nina Katchadourian, Arleene Correa Valencia, Julie Heffernan and Sandow Birk. The gallery is a member of the San Francisco Art Dealers Association (SFADA, since 1994) and the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA, since 2023): recognition from two of the leading dealer organizations. Hosting an event here means hosting it inside a living, working art space - exhibitions rotate every eight weeks and a time-based media or video work is always on view in the dedicated Media Room.
House rules.
A Certificate of Liability is required no later than 14 days before the event date; the client is responsible for obtaining the certificate. Setup and equipment delivery must happen during the agreed rental window. Cancellations seven-plus days out receive a full refund; cancellations between seven days and 24 hours receive a 50% refund; cancellations within 24 hours are non-refundable. Vacate time is 10pm unless midnight has been agreed in advance.
Ideal for.
Milestone birthdays, holiday parties, corporate events, engagement parties, private dinners, performances, ticketed cultural events, fundraisers, product launches, panel talks and screenings. A true gallery setting that doubles as a flexible event space with sound freedom and a central Potrero Hill location.
