Dates & times
All times are local to the venue · America/Los Angeles
- 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
YBCA’s Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello
Dread Scott’s monumental canvas layers body prints made with community members; Rael San Fratello’s new work, Sanctuary, turns soil, straw and water into a cylindrical structure. On November 4, YBCA’s Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity brings visitors to both exhibitions and includes time for sketching.
A canvas made with community members
Dread Scott: The Body Politic, on view September 25, 2026, through January 31, 2027, brings together two new commissions and earlier work. Scott’s practice confronts political issues and American patriotism; the exhibition places those questions in works about civil society and the institutions that exercise public power.
One new commission is a monumental canvas composed of dozens of layered body prints, made with community members. Other works include the 2025 screenprint Imagine a World Without America (Green Land), modified photographs of government seats of power and earlier body prints.
A separate work, Defending the Flag (2026), is scheduled in the exhibition on Wednesdays from 4–8 p.m. and Saturdays from 1–5 p.m. It involves a veteran in combat fatigues standing before a U.S. flag while holding a military rifle. The Wednesday performance time overlaps this tour, but YBCA does not list it as part of the tour or say whether the tour route will encounter it.
Further reading: Dread Scott: The Body Politic - YBCA ↗ · Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗
Architecture made from unexpected materials
Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations surveys the Oakland-based architecture and design studio founded in 2002 by Virginia San Fratello and Ronald Rael. The exhibition traces a path from early experiments combining clothing and construction to projects addressing the U.S.-Mexico border and work that brings 3D printing together with traditional earthen materials.
The studio’s Teeter-Totter Wall placed bright pink seesaws along the border wall, making room for playful exchange across a contested divide. In Sanctuary, a new large-scale commission, the studio uses 3D printing onsite to form a cylinder entirely from soil, straw and water.
A large table presents 3D-printed objects made from sustainable, upcycled or waste-stream materials, including salt, Chardonnay grape skins, coffee grounds, clay, sawdust and ash collected after California wildfires. Here, the material is part of the argument: the exhibition considers how architecture can express power and how different ways of building might contest it. The show is on view through January 31, 2027.
Further reading: Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations - YBCA ↗
A tour with sketching built in
YBCA describes one guided visit to both exhibitions, with a sketching activity led by teaching artists. The event listing names Rea Lynn de Guzman, Brandi J Ynocencio and Ashlin Randolph, but does not say which of them will lead this session.
Their listed backgrounds span different approaches to art and education. De Guzman is an interdisciplinary artist, curator and educator working in painting, print and sculpture; her practice explores identity, cultural assimilation and the Filipinx diaspora, informed by her experience as a Filipina immigrant. Ynocencio is a San Francisco printmaker and painter who teaches art and makes work at the Graphic Arts Workshop in Dogpatch. Randolph, an Oakland-based arts educator and facilitator, brings visual art, storytelling, culture and community into her work with schools, museums and community organizations.
Sketching is part of the tour, not a separately timed workshop. YBCA does not specify a drawing prompt, a finished project or whether supplies are provided; check with the organization if you need to know what to bring.
Further reading: Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗ · Rea Lynn de Guzman - YBCA ↗ · Brandi J Ynocencio - YBCA ↗ · Ashlin Randolph - YBCA ↗
One combined gallery session
The 90 minutes combine the guided visit to both exhibitions with sketching; YBCA gives no separate time for each activity.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 · Meet in the Grand Lobby; tour in Gallery 1 & 2
- Guided tour of Dread Scott: The Body Politic and Rael San Fratello: Prototypes and Provocations, with a sketching activity led by YBCA teaching artists.
Plan your visit
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 · 4–5:30 p.m.
The 90-minute program is free with registration. For ticket questions, YBCA lists 415-978-2787 during gallery hours.
Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
Grand Lobby, Gallery & Forum Building
Meet in the Grand Lobby at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. The tour is in Gallery 1 & 2.
Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
Wednesday galleries are open 11 a.m.–8 p.m.
YBCA offers free general gallery admission on Wednesdays. That does not replace registration for this guided program, which is also free but requires registration.
Visit - YBCA ↗ · Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗
Access at the Gallery & Forum Building
YBCA says all public entrances are accessible. At the Gallery & Forum Building, the entrances at 701 Mission Street and the Garden Esplanade have electric push-button doors; elevators serve both YBCA buildings. Wheelchairs are available first-come, first-served, and large-print exhibition guides are offered.
Sign-language interpretation for YBCA programs is available with three weeks’ notice. One caregiver accompanying a visitor with accessibility needs is admitted free. Breastfeeding and bottle-feeding are allowed in public spaces.
ADA-defined service animals are welcome on leash and under their handler’s control, provided they do not pose a threat or cause a disturbance. Pets, emotional support animals and therapy animals are not permitted.
Getting to YBCA
Gallery & Forum Building entrance
The tour meets in the Grand Lobby at 701 Mission Street, the main entrance to YBCA’s galleries and forum space. YBCA says the site is accessible by transit, car, bike or on foot, but does not list specific routes or parking details here. Use the map link to calculate directions from your starting point.
Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
Before you make a plan
Is the tour free, and do I need to register?
Yes. YBCA lists the tour as free with registration.
Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗
Where does the tour meet?
Meet in the Grand Lobby of YBCA’s Gallery & Forum Building at 701 Mission Street. The tour is in Gallery 1 & 2.
Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗ · Visit - YBCA ↗
Are sketching supplies provided?
YBCA’s event listing does not say whether materials are provided. Contact YBCA before the visit if you need to know what to bring.
Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗
Will the tour include Defending the Flag?
The tour listing does not include the performance as a program component. It is separately scheduled in the exhibition on Wednesdays from 4–8 p.m., overlapping the tour; YBCA does not say whether the tour route encounters it.
Gallery Tour & Sketching Activity: Dread Scott & Rael San Fratello - YBCA ↗ · Dread Scott: The Body Politic - YBCA ↗
Location & Google Maps
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), Gallery 1 & 2
701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Map search by venue and address. Check the organiser’s entrance details before travelling.