Mission: Connecting Art and Community

Shipyard Trust for the Arts (STAR) is the nonprofit organization of the Hunters Point Shipyard Artists, a studio community of more than 300 working artists and musicians in the historic Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco. We are the largest artist community in the U.S. STAR was formed to address threatened displacement of the artists from their affordable work studios at the Shipyard.

STAR advocates for keeping studio rents affordable and assures that no artists are displaced under ever-changing conditions, and manages the relationship with our various landlords – the developer, the City and the U.S. Navy.
In the past STAR has negotiated a community benefit agreement with Shipyard developer Lennar, that promised the continued existence of the artists at the Shipyard, with permanently affordable rents. A new artist building would be built to house all artists in buildings slated for demolition under the redevelopment plan. The same agreement also provides for free land to be given to the artists for the purpose of building a community art center. We now need to ensure that those promises are followed through amidst the scandals and their aftermath around the Navy’s clean-up of the Shipyard, a federal Superfund site.

STAR supports the Shipyard artists by organizing Open Studios exhibits. STAR promotes their art during Open Studios and other art exhibits and connects them with other opportunities to sell their work or potential commissions.

STAR also advocates for increasing access to Shipyard art studios for historically marginalized artists, and increased access in general to the arts on and off the Shipyard for the Bayview Hunters Point community.

STAR’s goal is to further increase the diversity of artists at the Shipyard to truly reflect the current demographics of San Francisco, and to keep artists from leaving the City altogether.