About
Uniting art, music, and culture on San Francisco's historic Market Street
Market Street Arts represents a range of arts organizations, creative businesses, and social activity in the heart of San Francisco’s Historic Theater District.
ABOUT THE MARKET STREET ARTS INITIATIVE
Led by the Mid-Market Business Association & Foundation (MMBAF), Market Street Arts is a multi-year collaboration between the City, neighborhood stakeholders, artists, businesses, cultural venues, residents, private donors, and corporate sponsors to actualize the true potential of Mid-Market. The implementation strategies specifically builds on impact of the neighborhood’s larger cultural venues with a fabric of new and existing creative entrepreneurs, arts organizations, businesses, public art, beautification, and events of various scales, serving as a multipronged platform for creative expression, human connection, and economic investment.
Run by a four-person team, MMBAF is committed to creating experiences that foster connection and celebrate Mid-Market for what it is: a historic theater district that is—and always will be—a multipronged platform for creative expression, human connection, and economic investment. Market Street connects San Francisco to the greater Bay Area and the world. We firmly believe that as goes Mid-Market, so goes SF.
The Market Street Arts initiative provides free public programming, live performances, artist partnerships, and community events to strengthen the Mid-Market community. Most recently, MMBAF has been awarded the 2025 Downtown Achievement Award of Excellence in the Economic Development category for its innovative approach to downtown revitalization through Market Street Arts.
Market Street Arts is funded by the Mid-Market Foundation, a 501c3 established in 2019 to conceive, implement, and manage transformative programs in partnership with the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
ABOUT MID-MARKET
Mid-Market has been San Francisco’s stage for over a century. Market Street between 5th and Van Ness is home to five large performance venues; The Warfield, Orpheum Theatre, Golden Gate Theatre, ACT’s Strand Theatre, and Bill Graham Civic Auditorium all stand with a collective capacity of more than 15,000 people.
Market Street has served as a playground for San Francisco’s theatre scene dating all the way back to 1907, very shortly after the 1906 earthquake destroyed downtown San Francisco. In an effort to rebuild, Esquire cinema opened in 1909, then the Jewel (now known as Strand Theatre) in 1917, and then Orpheum Theatre in 1926, and many more as the theatre district blossomed. Since 1907, there have been around 30 theaters in Mid-Market, with the five aforementioned performance venues still in operation to this day.
With civic public spaces and activities popping off throughout the year, Mid-Market is the stage for a diverse array of experiences, including world-renowned Pride parades; passionate rallies and social demonstrations; and seeing your favorite musicians live. Mid-Market is a vibrant hub for creative spaces like Holy Stitch! and Roar Shack Live!, where locals and visitors can learn a new craft, build connections, or catch an incredible show.