A LETTER FROM QCC

Why we are pausing, and building, in public

Dear QCC community,

For over 30 years, Queer Cultural Center has invested in, produced, and presented queer art across the Bay Area. Together, artists, cultural workers, audiences, staff, board members, donors, and community partners have made space for experimentation, connection, memory, and possibility.

That work matters. So does the infrastructure that makes it possible.

During our 2026–2027 program year, QCC will pause Creating Queer Communities and the National Queer Arts Festival. We are choosing to take the time required to build an organization that can sustain queer cultural work with greater care, clarity, and accountability.

Like many arts organizations, QCC is navigating a changed funding landscape, and a San Francisco that consistently puts profits over people. But money is not the whole story. Some of the systems beneath our programs need attention: our financial practices, program architecture, artist agreements, archives and data, governance, donor infrastructure, and community relationships. Since our inception, we have had to fight for the resources and recognition this work deserves. That constant fight leaves too little time to strengthen the structures holding the work up. Continuing at the same pace would ask artists and staff to absorb the consequences. We believe there is a better way forward.

So we are pausing. We are repairing. And we are doing as much of that work as we can in public.

Building in Public means sharing what we are learning, what we are changing, and what it takes to build a sustainable alternative institution without killing the people inside of it. It means creating ways for queer artists, cultural workers, organizers, archivists, producers, venues, and community members to influence what comes next. And it means doing so responsibly, with the knowledge that we are fierce protectors of vulnerable populations. Accountability requires both openness and care.

A central part of this process will be a Bay Area LGBTQ+ arts and culture convening in May 2027. We will open a call for proposals in January and compensate artists and cultural workers to lead sessions, share their expertise, and contribute performances and other creative interventions. Together, we will map the broader queer cultural ecosystem, identify gaps, share resources, and strengthen our collective power. This is not only a conversation about individual artists. It is a chance to look at the full network that makes queer cultural life possible, and at what that network needs in order to thrive.

Over the coming months, we will publish updates, invite questions and responses, and share opportunities to participate. We hope you will follow the process, tell us what QCC should carry forward, challenge us where change is needed, and help imagine what QCC can become.

Together, we are creating the conditions for queer cultural work to remain.

With care and commitment,
Lauren and the Queer Cultural Center staff

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