SHSF was founded by Natalia Vigil and Cristina Mitra, both QTBIPOC raised in San Francisco. We began as a cultural preservation project to amplify the voices of QTBIPOC artists raised and rooted in SF with the mission of collective healing and to honor and sustain our rich cultural history in the face of aggressive gentrification and displacement.

Programs:

– Annual Multidisciplinary Productions, National Queer Arts Festival that reflect the history and culture of SF’s QTBIPOC communities.

– SHSF Anthology published by Foglifter Press: A literary collection of QTBIPOC artists capturing the essence of being “Still Here” in SF.

– Kaleidoscope: Collaboration with Chrysalis Studio QAP and Foglifter Press, now in its fifth year, focusing on QTBIPOC TAY artists.

-Start a Riot Chapbook: Collaboration with Foglifter Press. “In response to rapid gentrification and displacement of QTBIPOC+ literary artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in celebration of these communities’ revolutionary history, Foglifter Press and Still Here San Francisco joined forces to create a poetry chapbook prize for local emerging queer and trans Black writers, indigenous writers, and writers of color. Each year, one poetry chapbook author is awarded publication, a $2,000 prize, and $1,000 to support their book tour/promotion.”

– 2026: Launching Podcast with Kaleidoscope Alumni, co-founder, and librarian to capture, share, and archive SF QTBIPOC stories.

One of SHSF’s most recent and notable achievements is the 2023 Hormel Exhibition in partnership with SF Public Library’s Hormel Center. The exhibition, “I Still Love You: Queerness, Ancestors, and the Places that Made Us,” featured writing, artwork, and historic artifacts of participant’s Queer ancestors and living legends from the archives. The exhibition was an artistic conversation that suspended time and space, and featured 10 QTBIPOC participants from QAP and Kaleidoscope. This exhibition toured to other branches including Western Addition.